After 164 years church reopens
Mumbai (AsiaNews) After more than a century of neglect, the St John the Baptist Catholic church in Andheri (North-East Mumbai) will soon be open once a week for prayer services.
For years, local Catholics had tried to save the church from dilapidation. The building is significant because it was here that the first local residents converted to Christianity in 1582.
Built in 1579 by Portuguese missionaries, the church had been abandoned after a devastating plague in 1840 that had struck the Mumbai region. Villagers moved a few kilometres away to Marol where they placed the statue of St John in their reconstructed church of St John the Evangelist. However, parishioners kept going to the old church on pilgrimages.
The church became totally dilapidated in the 1970s when the local Catholic community lost ownership and access to the building. The Maharashtra government acquired title to the land and agreed to uphold the sanctity of the church. Still, it set up the Santacruz Electronic Export Processing Zone, a commercial zone for the manufacturing of electronic goods and diamonds, and allowed companies to set up shop in the area around the church. One company built its plant on top of the cemetery.
Today, St John the Baptist is overrun by roots that are breaking the structure. The building is reduced to pathetic conditions with only the side walls standing and no roof. An arch at the entrance and a stone altar with a stone Cross on it bear silent testimony to the presence of a church.
Despite promises by politicians, years of protests by the Catholic community demanding the church reopen went unfulfilled till recently. Union Sports Minister Sunjay Dutt successfully lobbied the Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath who granted permission for weekly services.
Since St John the Baptist is located in a high-risk area, security on the premises will be ensured by two side walls with gates that will be constructed across the inner road, the Mr Nath said, and traffic on the road in front of the church will be blocked.
The secretary-general of the All India Christian Council said that a committee was set up comprising representatives from the Archdiocese of Mumbai and others to take care of the site and facilitate its use by worshippers.
Local Catholics thanked the government and expressed their joy for finally being able to use something that was theirs 'by right'.
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