The Church is also known as the Rosario Cathedral. It is one of the three – if not the – oldest churches in the Diocese, and Pietro della Valle, the Italian traveller who visited Mangalore in 1623 mentions it as the Church of the Holy Rosary at Bolar, the other two being Our Lady of Mercy of Ullal and of St. Francis of Assisi at Farangipet. Fr. Joseph Vas in 1681 mentions the structure at Bolar serving as a church known at the time as the Factory Church. The church was built by the Portuguese when they landed at Mangalore in 1568. The Portuguese under Diego de Silveira won the battle at Mangalore on January 5, 1568, occupied the town and built the factories and godowns for storage of spices. They built the fort of St. Sebastian as also the church. The Cathedral now stands where the Portuguese church had stood once. The Royal stone emblem of the Portuguese King marking their landing in Mangalore lies at the entrance of the Cathedral. Blessed Joseph Vaz played an important role in the history of this church in 1681.
Rosario Church was desecrated and destroyed by Tipu Sultan's forces in 1784. After the faithful returned from their captivity they worked to rebuild the church. The work started in 1813. The English government gave a grant of Rs. 4,000 to rebuild both the churches – here and St. Milagres. On April 16, 1850 the church was raised to the rank of a cathedral by Bishop Ephrem ODC (See Vol I P) Fr. Urban Stein SJ, German, was the first parish priest on the arrival of the Jesuits (1879-1888). The first Episcopal Ordination witnessed in the old church was of Mgr. Nicolas Marie Pagani on October 25, 1885.
It was in 1910 that Fr. Henry I. Buzzoni SJ, Parish priest, demolished the entire structure of the old Cathedral and commenced work on the present day spacious and magnificent edifice worthy of its status as a cathedral. Br. Divo SJ was the architect. This would be the only church in the Diocese with a majestic dome covering the entire sanctuary. In those years the Cross on the dome was lit every night serving as a beacon to the seafarers. Bishop Perini, the third and last Jesuits bishop, too was ordained in the Church on December 4, 1910. The main altar was consecrated by him on April 3, 1924 when he was the Administrator Apostolic. Fr. Buzzoni also erected a belfry tower and installed four bells, imported from Italy.
The original parish has given rise to several parishes in the course of time; perhaps Urva is the first, carved out in 1865, Kulur 1888, Bejai 1912, Bendur 1914, Cascia 1935, Derebail 1939 and Thannirbavi 1950.
The schools in the Parish have a history too. Already in 1858 Christian (Della Salle) Brothers started St. Mary’s School, later known as Rosario School, now Management college. The sisters of St. Joseph of Apparition opened a school for girls in 1859 at St. Ann’s grounds. When the Congregation shifted to Cannanore, the Carmelite Tertiaries (later A.C.'s) took over the School, presently the A.C.'s run the colleges of Education as well as Schools for Girls.
Mention must be made of the Minor Seminary Gladsom Home for students preparing themselves to join the seminary mostly for the Diocese of Mangalore.
Courtesy : Article by Fr. Devadatta Kamath SJ for rosariocathedral.org
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