Rev. Fr. Intru Pinto
Priest in Charge of St. Sebastian Church, Gerusoppa.
St. Sebastian Church Gerusoppa
Gerusoppa is a paradise for nature lovers and heritage enthusiasts alike. It’s a village situated on the banks of the river Sharavathi in Honnavar Taluk, Uttara Kannada District in the Indian state of Karnataka. By the early 1550s, Chennabhairadevi, who belonged to the Saluva dynasty, became the queen, who ruled for 54 years. The Gerusoppa region was very rich in pepper which was in great demand in the west. Since Gerusoppa was the capital of the kingdom, it became a flourishing trade centre and pilgrimage destination. They mainly traded in spices like pepper, nutmeg and betel nut. The Portuguese laid the foundation for Christianity in Gerusoppa, who had come for the business purposes. They built a small structure to carry on their devotion and practice their faith in God.
Around 1920, when India was still under British rule, the pastoral needs of our church were provided by San Salvador Parish, Honavar. We can find in the documents that, over time, it was transferred to Gundibala parish, then to Kodani parish and then also to Samsi parish.
We had a small hut for to pray and to celebrate the liturgy. As time passed, the number of faithful increased in our village. Since it was a small hut, people took the initiative to replace it with a new church, built using mud. At that time, it was Fr. Walter who used to come from Samsi to celebrate mass for the faithful every Sunday. Even today, people here remember his work and praise the service that he rendered to our church. People reminisce that he had come every Sunday afternoon without fail to celebrate Mass and also conducted catechism classes for the children in the school building, which is just opposite to our church.
We would also like to mention in the report the contribution of Fr. Ben Britto, who worked a lot to establish the faith of the people. He was filled with the holy desire to improve the spiritual lives of the people. Thanks to his efforts and the generous help of many donors, he built the previous church for us. There are many other priests who gave their precious service to our church, namely, Fr. Gregory, Fr. Jerome D’souza, Fr. Lawrence Perreira, Fr. Simon Tellis, Fr. Lawrence Fernandes, Fr. Salvador Gonsalves, Fr. Marshall Crasta and Fr. John Fernandes.
New Church: During the time of Fr. Peter, the administration of our church was transferred again to Allanki Parish. It was a first step towards the construction of the new church. Discussions on building a new church began under the guidance of Fr. Abel and the late Bishop of Karwar, William D’Mello, who also carries the distinction of having been the first Bishop of Karwar. Bishop Derek Fernandes, who succeeded him, laid the foundation stone, and the work of the new building was stated when Fr. Antony (senior) was the parish priest of Allanki. Finally, the new church came into existence during Fr. David’s time, and the inauguration and dedication of the new church was done by Bishop Derek Fernandes.
Today, we have a beautiful church because of the collaboration and contribution of many persons, especially the late Bishop William D’Mello, Bishop Derek Fernandes and Mr. Sam Alphons for his generous support.
No | Year | Name of the Priests |
|---|---|---|
01 | 2018-2023 | Rev. Fr. Steven Dsouza (Snr) |
02 | 2023 | Rev. Fr. Inthru Pinto |
- St. Sebastian Church Gerusoppa
- Mass Timings