St. Francis of Assisi Church, Mt. Poinsur
| Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Church, Borivali | |
|---|---|
Altar of the Church
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| 19°14′40″N 72°51′11″E / 19.24444°N 72.85306°ECoordinates: 19°14′40″N 72°51′11″E / 19.24444°N 72.85306°E | |
| Location | Borivali, Mumbai |
| Country | India |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Official Website |
| History | |
| Former name(s) | Nossa Senhora da Piedade |
| Founded | 1547 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Parish Church |
| Functional status | Active |
| Administration | |
| Archdiocese | Archdiosese of Bombay |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Oswald Cardinal Gracias |
| Priest in charge | Bishop Barthol Barretto |
| Priest(s) |
Fr Robin Kinny, Fr Melroy Mendonca, Fr Joel Pinto and Fr Anto Denish |
Fr Robin Kinny, Fr Melroy
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Church, Borivali (West) has been a Roman Catholic Parish from 1547 to 1739 and again from 1912 onwards. Its present clergy are Fr. Barthol Barretto (PP), Fr Robin Kinny, Fr Melroy Mendonca, Fr Joel Pinto and Fr Anto Denish. It is situated in I.C. Colony (Immaculate Conception Colony) which is a large colony situated in the suburbs of Borivali, in the North Western face of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
According to tradition, the intrepid Franciscan missionary, Padre Antonio do Porto was the founder of this church in 1544, ten years after the Bombay-Baçaim coastal tracts were ceded by the Sultan of Cambay, Bahadur Shah, to Portugal by the Treaty of Baçaim. Fr. Meersman however holds that although Porto was its founder, the foundation could only have taken place shortly after his arrival in these parts in 1547.
By October 1548, he and his companion Joao de Goa had made a number of followers and had founded a 'devout hermitage' at Mount Poinsur. In October 1549, Meersman described the church of Nossa Senhora da Piedade (Our Lady of Piety):
On an island opposite Baçaim, a league and a half from the river... there is a church of Our Lady where there must be four hundred Christians.... It is entirely in a rock cliff.... It is very large and has four chapels.
During the time of the same Padre Porto, the village of Mount Poinsur was granted to the Franciscans by the Governor of Baçaim Jorge de Cabral in the name of King John III of Portugal, for the maintenance of their work. The Franciscans bought the two neighboring villages of Pare and Erangal around 1556-1559. Adjoining the church, they also built a Royal College in 1549, the ruins of which are still standing close to the present church. Over the years, the four hundred villagers started following Padre Antonio do Porto. Christians grew in number and soon a settlement for them was built around or opposite the church (records Padre Paulo da Trinidade). Around 1630, the parish counted some 1500 parishioners in the villages of Mount Poinsur, Dhainsa, Simpor, Canaria and Cassor, with a chapel dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel in Canaria. It was also around this time that the name of the church at Mount Poinsur was changed to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception.
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Wikipedia