St Lawrence Church, Bondel is one of the parishes of the Diocese of Mangalore. It is situated 8 kms away from the Heart of the City on the way to Bajpe Airport. It is a very beautiful place surrounded by Pacchanady, Moodushedde, Marakada, Kavoor and Padavinangady villages.
A French missionary priest Rev. Fr Alexander Dubois known as Frad Saib (the then parish priest of Milagres) visited this place in the year 1873 and seeing the natural beauty of this place he called this place as “Bon valle”, a French term meaning good valley (Konkani: Borem Falkay) and hence this place is popularly known as Bondel.
Bondel Parish was once a part of Milagres Church. In 1908 a little more a kilometre east of the Present Church, Rev Fr Aloysius Fernandes of Milagres Mangalore had built a Chapel on a hillock near a place called Thota for the Catholics of Pacchanady, Moodshedde and a portion of Padav. In the same year Primary School was also started there. In 1913, Rev. Fr Frank S. Pereira of Milagres constructed a chapel at the site where the present church stands. The school was also shifted from Thota to the Bondel Church Premises. Bishop Perini appointed Rev. Fr Julian Rego as the chaplain in 1917.
In 1922 a presbytery was built and also the school was renovated. The church attained the status of the Parish on April 10th, 1923 under the patronage of St Lawrence and Rev. Fr Frank S. Pereira as its first parish priest (1923 to 1926).
On 1st October, 1926, Rev. Fr Julian Rego came as the Parish Priest of Bondel Church and Manager of the School (1926 to 1935). In May 1929, two wards of Bejai were added to Bondel Parish. He also added the sanctuary to the Church. In 1934 the primary school came under the Catholic Board of Education which was earlier under the Milagres Church.
On January 31st, 1937, Rev. Fr J. B. D’ Sa came as the Parish Priest of Bondel. He further enlarged the sanctuary and renovated the Belfry in 1951. He served the parish for 20 years (1937 to 1957).
In 1957 Rev. Fr Aloysius J. Silva took charge as the Vigar. He upgraded the Primary School to Higher Primary School. He also renovated the Presbytery and the school building.
Rev. Fr Gabriel B. D’ Souza came as the Vigar on May 18, 1968. In 1969 Mahatma Gandhi Centenary High School was started in the church compound. Later in 1972 it was shifted to the new building where it is presently located.
The present Church was built by Rev. Fr Denis D’Souza (1977 to 1987). He worked hard for the development of the parish.
After him Rev. Fr Thomas D’Souza (1987 to 1994) erected the belfry for 3 bells and rebuilt the presbytery.
On June 27,1994 Rev. Fr Clifford D’Souza took over the charge as the parish priest of Bondel Church. He worked on building the faith of the people.
On April 28, 1997, Rev. Fr John Mendonca became the parish priest. Under his leadership the Platinum Jubilee was celebrated in a splendid manner in 1998. The present Church hall was built as a memorial of the Platinum Jubilee Year.
In 2004, the Bishop appointed Rev. Fr Antony Serrao as the parish priest of Bondel Parish. In the year 2007, St Lawrence English Medium School was started in commemoration of the Centenary Jubilee of the School. The new English Medium School building was inaugurated by Rev. Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza, the Bishop of Mangalore.
In 2011 Rev Fr Andrew D’Souza was appointed as the parish priest who was a man of prayer. Under his able leadership the parish grew more spiritually.
Rev Fr Andrew Leo D’Souza has been serving the parish as parish priest from 2018 onwards.
Parish Priests who have served in the parish :
- Rev. Fr Frank S. Pereira (1923 to 1926)
- Rev. Fr Julian Rego (1926 to 1935)
- Rev. Fr J. B. D’ Sa (1937 to 1957)
- Rev. Fr Aloysius J. Silva (1957 - 1968)
- Rev. Fr Gabriel B. D’ Souza (1968 - 1977)
- Rev. Fr Denis D’Souza (Sr) (1977 to 1987)
- Rev. Fr Thomas D’Souza (1987 to 1994)
- Rev. Fr Clifford D’Souza (1994 - 1997)
- Rev. Fr John Mendonca (1997 - 2004)
- Rev. Fr Antony Michael Shera (2004 - 2011)
- Rev Fr Andrew D’Souza (2011 - 2018)
- Rev Fr Andrew Leo D’Souza (from 2018 onwards)
Compiled by Catholic Time staff with inputs from bondelchurch.in
Last updated in Dec 2018.
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