In the temple town of Udupi, a small chapel dedicated to Mother of Sorrows was built and inaugurated on 25th Nov. 1880. In 1880 the then Bishop of Mangalore, His Lordship N. Pagani issued a decree establishing the independent Udupi Parish, with Fr. J. N. Masse as the first Parish Priest. A small Church was built by Fr. Casmir Fernandes which was blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Perini on 8th Feb. 1918.
Two parishes were carved out from the Udupi Parish – Christ King Church at Manipal (1968) and the Stella Maris Church at Kalmady (Malpe) (1991).
Papal Internuncio Most. Rev. Dr. James Robert Knox visited the Udupi Church on 4th Dec. 1959.
The present Church was built in the place of the old one by Fr. J. P. Tauro which was blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Basil D’souza on 17th May 1984.
Post centenary silver jubilee celebration :
Fr. Mathew Vas took charge on 17th May 2004 as the parish Priest and was instrumental in celebrating the post-centenary Silver Jubilee on a grand scale on May 4, 2006 during which the Adoration Chapel was blessed and inaugurated. Bishop of Mangalore Most Rev Aloysius D' Souza, Bishop of Bidar Most Robert Miranda, Udupi parish priest Fr Mathew Vaz and over 30 priests from various parishes joined together in offering the solemn festal Eucharist.
Commercial Projects :
Towards financial sustenance, the Udupi Supper Bazaar was built by Fr. J. P. Tauro (1980-88), Fr. Peter Noronha (1988-1995) added floors to the premises. Fr. Antony Serrao (1995-2004) built the Christa Jyothi Complex and extended the Vidya Jyothi Complex for commercial purposes.
Educational Projects :
In 1940 Fr. Denis Sequeira established the St. Mary’s Kannada Primary School. Fr. J.P. Tauro got permission to make it High School in 1983. He also established St. Mary’s English Primary School which was elated as High School in 1991. His other contribution was the starting of St. Mary’s Industrial Training Institute ( I T I ) in 1985 for which the workshop was added by Fr. P. Noronha and a new block was added by Fr. Antony Serrao. Fr. P. Noronha was also instrumental in extending the Vidya Jyothi complex to accommodate more classes.
The New Educational Complex :
Under the guidance of the successive Correspondents, Fr Peter Theodore D'Souza, Fr Peter S. Noronha, Fr Antony Shera and Fr Mathew Vas, St Mary's English Medium School grew into an icon for excellence and competence in the field of education. In the year 2009 the school celebrated its Silver Jubilee with a lot more committed objectives ahead. The school shifted from the Udupi Church Campus to the new spacious campus of about 10 acres at Kannarpady during the academic year 2010-11. This mighty dream was envisioned and actualized by the dynamic leadership of the then Correspondent Fr Mathew Vas. Later Fr Frederick Mascarenhas embellished the campus with the best possible infrastructure with an aesthetic touch. In August 2013 the school secured affiliation from the CBSE Board. In the academic year 2016, the school was upgraded into a Senior Secondary School and Grade 11 with the Science and Commerce streams.
Parish Priests who served the Parish since its inception :
- Fr. Albert D’souza (1880 -1890) as Chaplain
- Fr. J.N.Masse (1890 – 1902) as Parish Priest and all the below given priests served as Parish Priests
- Fr. D.R. Goveas (1902 – 1903)
- Fr. R.C. Mascarenhas (1903 – 1904)
- Fr. J.M. Vas (1904 – 1905)
- Fr. B.S. Furtado (1905 – 1910)
- Fr. M.P. Colaco (1910)
- Fr. P.S. D’souza (1910 – 1912)
- Fr. J. P. Fernandes (1912 – 1913)
- Fr. Casmir Fernandes (1913 – 1932)
- Fr. Denis Sequeira (1932 – 1941)
- Fr. Alexander B. Pinto (1941 – 1953)
- Fr. A.J. D’silva (1953 – 1955)
- Fr. Joseph M.Lobo (1955 – 1957)
- Fr. Alphonsus Sequeira (1957)
- Fr. Gaulbert Noronha (1957 – 1969)
- Fr. E.A. Castelino (1969 – 1975)
- Fr. J. Emmanuel D’souza (1975 – 1979)
- Fr. Jacob S.Crasta (1980)
- Fr. J.P. Tauro (1980 – 1988)
- Fr. Peter S. Noronha (1988 – 1995)
- Fr. Peter T.D’souza (1995 – 1997)
- Fr. Antony M. Serrao (1997 – 2004)
- Fr. Mathew Vas (2004 – 2011)
- Fr Frederick Mascarenhas (2011 – 2017)
- Fr Valerian Mendonca (2017-2020)
- Fr Charles Menezes (from 2020 onwards)
Compiled by Catholic Time Staff with inputs from udupichurch.com
Last updated in Dec 2020.
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