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St. Francis Xavier Church Chandavar

A Brief History of the Church

As the only Shrine and Pilgrimage Centre of the Diocese, Chandavar Parish has an eventful history. St. Francis Xavier Church, Chandavar, is a long-standing memorial to the great Saint, who is responsible for the faith up-bringing of the Christians in North Kanara. On 3rd December every year, all roads lead to Chandavar for the annual feast celebration.

The original Church of St. Francis is recorded to have been built in 1678 during the reign of Basappa Nayak, one of the Bednore Kings of the Keladi Nayak Dynasty. Being a great commercial centre and customs station, the present day Chandavar was once a flourishing town with many Christians in the 17th & 18th centuries. The decline of the population and destruction of the Church is attributed to Tipu Sultan who caused untold miseries to the Christians in the area by destroying the Church and taking the Christians into captivity by the end of the 18th century. The chronicles record that the Church at Chandavar was rebuilt in 1801, and a second time in 1874. But Christianity degenerated in this area and on January 31, 1897 it was included in the Mission of Kumta. Subsequently it was again made into an independent Parish on July 13, 1919. The existent old Church is a fruit of the untiring efforts of the great Goan Priest Fr. Sebastian D’Mello.

The Statue of St. Francis Xavier in the Church is supposed to have been brought and handed over by a fisherman from Mirjan, who was blessed with favours in his family after this “catch”! In 1934 Msgr. Joao Salvador da Veiga, the Parish Priest of St. John the Baptist Church, Kumta, contemplating the difficulties of the people of North Kanara to make pilgrimage to Goa requested the Patriarch of Goa and obtained from him a relic of St. Francis Xavier which is now preserved in the Church and exposed for veneration on the annual feast day.

The old Church, though an imposing edifice, was judged to be beyond normal repairs. And so was built the new Church of Chandavar in the area adjacent to the old Church. The Church construction was painstakingly supervised and built with many liturgical

signs and symbols when Fr. Anthony Lopez was the Parish Priest. Though the Church was inaugurated on 26th May 1999, it was obvious that the construction work left much to be desired and so it was left to Fr. Denis Mascarenhas, the present Parish Priest to undertake extensive repairs of the Church. Fr. Antony Rodrigues (Jr), Fr. Francis Miranda, Fr. Salvadoore Gonsalves, have served the Parish. Fr. Faustine Furtado is the Present Parish Priest. The Chapels in the sub-stations of the Parish are: O.L.of Fatima Chapel (Madgeri) and St. Luke’s Chapel (Hebbankeri). The Masses are celebrated at least once a week in the sub-stations. It is heartening to note that the distance from the main Church, the non-availability of regular spiritual assistance or other inconveniences have in no way diminished their faith nor dampened their cultural fervour.

Rev. Fr. Faustine Furtado

Parish Priest of St. Francis Xavier Church, Chandavar.
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Rev. Fr. Wilson Pinto

St. Francis Xavier Church , Chandavar
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