St. Dominic Savio Church

Wadala, Mumbai (India)

Parish History

 

 

 

  • There were about 20,000 residents mainly in the shanties made from sheets of tin and mats of bamboo.

  • There was no water, electricity and no sanitation.

  • Most of the residents were from South India, especially Madras (Chennai) who had come in search of jobs.

  • Land Surface: Swampy. There were big ponds. Located not far from salt pans.

  • Amidst the slums there were very few outstanding buildings whose residents were well paid government officers, office or factory workers and small business men.

  • A little ahead, there were four cemeteries: Catholic, European, Muslim, Chinese.

  • There were slums all around the cemeteries. The slum dwellers lived in inhumane conditions.

  • About 40% were Catholics and the other 60% comprised of Hindus, Muslims and others.

  • There were no schools, and the little children, instead of going to school, either worked or looked after their siblings while their parents worked.

  • A high crime area: Due to its proximity to the docks, this place became a haven for smugglers.

  • Slum lords reigned supreme on this no man's land. 

 

  • Rev. Fr. Matthew Thalanany put up an iron cross at the place where the Catholic cemetery stood.

  • He built a small tin shed and roofed it with leaves and branches. It was used as his office.

  • Thugs burnt it down. It was rebuilt but suffered the same fate.

  • By 1964, thanks to the goodwill of Mr. Madhavan, the then Mayor of Bombay, a bigger shed was built. It served as a Chapel.

  • Bishop Willie Gomes blessed the Chapel. It was dedicated to St. Anthony.

  • The hutment dwellers had the privilege of attending Holy Mass at least once a week.

 

  • Fr. Matthew was toying with the idea of building a Church when he stumbled over a forgotten piece of land which belonged to the Church.

  • Fr. Matthew immediately approached the Contractor- Mr. Lawrence, at that time building the 'Eucress' complex, and built a solid shed.

  • The shed was used for multiple purposes:
     - To tutor the slum children as young as five and as old as eighteen.
     - Medical assistance was provided to the slum dwellers.
     - Regular Masses were conducted
     - Summer vacations saw the Salesians working for the slum children.

 

  • Antop Hill was developing very fast and the need for a church was felt.

  • Fr. Matthew placed this urgency before Fr. Michael Mascarenhas, the then Provincial Economer, who entrusted the work to Mr. Gokar, the architect.

 

  • As Mr. Gokar was too slow, the work was shifted from Mr. Gokar to Mr. Raj.

  • At this time, Antop Hill was privileged to have distinguished guests like
     - Rev. Fr. P. C. Thomas, The Regional Superior
     - Rev. Fr. Vecchi, In charge of youth Apostolate

  • Plans to build the Church were approved by Rome.

  • On 8th December 1978 at 4:30pm, the Foundation Stone was laid by His Grace Archbishop Simon Pimenta. Present for the ceremony were the prominent Salesians including Fr. Aurelius Maschio-The Salesian Pioneer, Fr. Tony D'Souza-The Salesian Provincial and others.

  • This was an auspicious Day for the Salesians as it was the golden jubilee of their work in the Province of Bombay.

 

  • The work of the construction of the Church actually began on 20th Aug. 1979.

  • Fr. Vigano sdb, the then Rector Major who visited India at the time, blessed the model of the new Church.

  • The Ceremony was held in Fr. Maschio's office in the presence of prominent Salesians on 28th Sept 1979.

 

  • June 1st: The first official Holy Mass was celebrated in the new Church at 7:00 AM.

  • June 2nd: The Blessed Sacrament began residing from this day. From then on there were regular Masses at 6:00 AM and 7:00AM.

  • June 7th: First Sunday Mass was celebrated. The order of the Masses were :
    6:00 AM
    7:00 AM
    8:00 AM
    9:00 AM
    5:30 PM [Evening Mass]

  • June 8th,9th: Fr. Matthew and his team who were residing at Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala West, took up their official residence at Antop Hill.

  • June 16th: Rev Msgr. Nelson Mascarenhas, the Dean and Msgr. Cordeiro, after consulting with the Parish Priests of Our Lady of Dolours, Wadala West, and Our Lady of Good Counsel, Sion, drew up the boundaries
    Western Boundary: The Western Boundary was the railway line.
    Eastern Boundary: The Eastern Boundary was the road dividing Sector V and VII of CGS. Thus all the sectors except Sector V came within the fold of Antop Hill Church.

  • June 20th: Blessing of the Church. Invitations were sent to all the Priests and Deanery. All the Salesian Houses were also invited.

    There were glowing reports of the birth of the Church on every leading newspaper.

 

  • May 2nd: Fr. Nelson Couto arrived as our new Asst. Parish Priest and the youth animator. We bid adieu to Fr. Michael Mascarenhas

  • May 6th: Fr. Michael Mascarenhas leaves Dominic Savio to the new place of his Apostolate.

  • June 6th: Philip Falcao took up the post of Asst. Parish Priest.
    Fr. Nelson Carvalho left for Rome.

 

  • June 2nd: Fr. Matthew was transfered to Don Bosco, Matnga as the Administrator of the house.

  • June 15th: Fr. John Samala arrived as our new Parish Priest.

  • July 1st: The Dominic Savio Congregation celebrated the silver Jubilee of Rev. Fr. Matthew.
    A warm welcome was extended to Fr. John Samala.
    At 10:30 pm, Fr. Wilfred D'Souza arrived directly from the airport to take up his post as the new Parish Priest.

 

  • Fr. Elutherius Fernandes celebrated his Golden Jubilee of his priesthood. A special issue of the Savion was dedicated to Fr. E. Fernandes and a purse was set up as 'The Father Elutherius Fernandes Education Fund' with Rs 20000/- Fixed Deposit in the bank.

  • New arrivals were Fr. Christopher Brian and Fr. Moja.

  • June 29th: Fr. Joe Braganza moved in as the member of the Community. He was a M.S.W. student at Nirmala Niketan.

  • June 1st: Fr. Nelson Couto left for Goa to take up his new assignment.

 

 

A very important beginning...

  • January 4th: Canossian Sisters' Provincial visited with her Council of four sisters at 4 PM for a discussion on the agreement for the sisters who were to come to work for the Parish.

  • July 4th: Canossian Sisters began their work very earnestly
    1) A nursery school was started for the Tamil children. Sr. Margaret and Sr. Juanita were in charge.
    2) Sr. Adeline was in charge of conducting the stitching classes.
    3) Sr. Juanita was also in charge of the dispensary

  • July 7th: Fr. Wilfred D'Souza left for Africa and Fr. Egidio took over as the Parish Priest.

 

 

Fr. Isu Falcao was appointed as the new Parish Priest.
 

 

  • May 24th: Fr. Aloysius Furtado appointed as the superior for one more term.

  • May 25th: Fr. Isu Falcao was transferred to Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala (West). He was given a warm send off on 1st June.