Our History

St. Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi is situated at a distance of 59 kms to the north of Mangalore on the coast and 7 kms south of Udupi, and is surrounded by Udyavar, Pangala, Pamboor and Kuntalnagar parishes.

Katapadi was once a part of the Udyavar Parish. However, the Catholics living in and around Katapadi found it very difficult to attend their Sunday obligations and avail

religious and spiritual services as Udyavar Church was quite far away for them. Those were the days of hardships as there was no vehicular facility. Rough roads and swelling Papanashini River made their journey to Udyavar Church much more difficult.

Under these circumstances, Mathias D’Silva and his sons, J.M. D’Silva and F. X. D’Silva led the people to meet the Bishop of Mangalore, Most Rev. Dr. Victor R. Fernandes in 1945 and convinced him of the need of a separate parish and a church at Katapadi. There were around 130 families belonging to the Udyavar Parish but having their houses far from the church, mainly in the places south of River Papanashini, east up to the frontiers of Belle and Pangla Parishes and to the west up to the Arabian Sea comprising of the villages of Kote, Mattu, Kallappu, Yenagudde, Manipura West and parts of Kurkal. They urged the Bishop to issue a decree for a new parish and church at Katapadi.

Bishop Victor R. Fernandes was convinced of the need of the people of Katapadi to have their own parish and church and he instructed them to get the required land and buildings so that he could process the decree for a new parish. He asked the people to buy a large enough piece of land and start building the church as well as a presbytery.

Mother Church Udyavar herself being in financial difficulties could not be of any help to the people of Katapadi. Thus, the burden of finding a suitable plot of land and construction of church and presbytery fully fell on the shoulders of the poor and hardworking people of Katapadi. An attempt to purchase sufficient land for the church ended in failure. Finally, sons of Mathias D’Silva bought and donated a plot of 3 Acres and 19 Cents of land valued at Rs.700 in 1948 from a Hindu landlord.

Bishop Victor R. Fernandes was kind and generous to the people of Katapadi. He guided the construction of the presbytery, donated the full set of mass vestments, encouraged the youth to get into collecting funds and to work in the construction of the presbytery. The Young Men’s Association joined their hands in this task.

It was on 16 May 1948, Bishop Victor R Fernandes issued a decree setting up the independent Parish of Katapadi  and dedicated it to St Vincent De Paul. The Papanashini River was fixed as the boundary between it and Udyavar. Belle and Pangala Parish boundaries were its limits in the east and the south and Karkala Katapadi Road and Udupi Mangalore Road as far as Kallapu Bridge were its boundaries in the west. The said decree was published at Udyavar Church and the date of its inauguration was fixed on 23 May 1948. Fr. Rosario Fernandes was appointed as the first chaplain at Katapadi who offered Holy Eucharist on the day of the inauguration.

Fr. Rosario Fernandes was at Katapadi from 23 May 1948 to 7 November 1948, not even for six months. In these six months he could inspire people and fill them with great spiritual strength and faith. There were certain problems arising out of the purchase of land for the cemetery. The failure to get the necessary sanctions from the civic authorities created a lot of problems. The neighbors objected to the setting up of the cemetery leading to misunderstanding. As a result of these developments the cemetery had to be closed and Bishop Victor R. Fernandes had to reconsider the sanctioning of the parish. On 6 October 948 the Bishop issued a decree of temporarily closing down the presbytery and the church. The parish priest of Shirva served the needs of the people until reopening of the presbytery and appointment of a new chaplain. F X D’Silva, serving as the first administrator of the station rendered great service during this turbulent period.

The Bishop was willing to reopen the station on fulfillment of the condition of acquiring a plot of land for the cemetery to be set up with the approval of the village panchayat. Albert Pereira came forward to donate 40 cents of his land for the purpose of the parish cemetery. The required licenses were soon acquired and the cemetery was registered in the name of the parish.

As the conditions laid down by Bishop Victor R. Fernandes were fulfilled, he agreed to appoint Fr. A. J. Tellis as the new chaplain of the Katapadi Church on 12 February1949 who served the people till 24 September 1949. Though his tenure was short, he started three sodalities each for altar boys, girls and women. He also started the Apostleship of Prayer.

In the absence of a proper chapel or church, the presbytery was used for Eucharistic Celebration and other religious activities. The space in the presbytery was insufficient for the congregation of 130 families. Realizing the need for a spacious chapel, Fr. Tellis laid the foundation stone for building the chapel. However, before he could start the construction work of the chapel, Fr. Tellis was transferred and Fr. A.J. D’Souza took charge of the station on 25 September 1949.

Under the able leadership of Fr. A.J. D’Souza parishioners worked hard to fulfill their dream of having a chapel. The people had to collect money required for this work and used various ways such as playing band, dancing and singing and also meeting potential donors and philanthropists and collected whatever they could. Many community leaders worked tirelessly and the chapel was completed a record period of 6 months.

During the tenure of Fr. D’Souza much needed developmental work was taken up. He beautified the chapel with many statues which he obtained through donations including the statue of the patron saint-St. Vincent De Paul. Fr. D’Souza also involved himself in the activities of economic development of the parish. Moving around, he guided people to take up profitable agricultural activities. He began the work of building the church compound wall. He planted coconut and other useful plants like mango, jackfruit, teakwood and cashew nuts. Fr. D’Souza also got a well dug and inlaid it with laterite stones; leveled the cemetery ground and built the mud enclosure to it and leveled the way leading to it and walled it up on both sides; provided the church with cement floor; and repaired the byroad leading to the church. During this period Bishop Victor R. Fernandes paid the first pastoral visit to the parish on 20 August 1954.

It was on 12 April 1955, after six years of restless work at Katapadi,  Fr. D’Souza was transferred and Fr. J.A.P. Miranda took charge as the next parish priest of Katapadi. Fr. Miranda inspired the people to dream of a fully furnished parish church building. He organized the presbytery, repaired the outhouse and provided cement flooring to both the buildings and organized the filing system of the church documents. He amicably settled the issue of 6  families claiming their allegiance to Udyavar parish and thus brought about the much needed understanding and cooperation.

When Fr. J.A.P Miranda took charge of the parish, the finances of the parish were poor and therefore he had to find ways and means to increase the revenue of the church. He installed nine pews and got the altar, sanctuary, doors and windows of the church painted. He installed a huge Crucifix in the middle of the cemetery.  He procured for the church the relics of St Vincent De Paul, St Francis Xavier, St Francis Assisi and St Thomas Aquinas. He also propagated the devotion of St Vincent De Paul, conducting Novenas every Thursday. He got the prayer book ‘Sant Vishent Pavlak Noven ani Magnim’ published. Some beautiful hymns were composed during this period, one such being ‘Mogalh patron amchya sant vishent pavla’ by Msgr. Paul Buthello.

Fr. A. F D’Souza had planned the construction of a new and spacious church building and had started the new Church Building Fund with only Rs 58.50 in the beginning. The task of fulfilling the plans fell on the shoulders of Fr. J.A.P Miranda. He started organizing various activities to collect much needed funds for the construction work. Unfortunately, construction work was postponed for a full year as the land for the new church could not be finalized.  Lawrence Suares of Jeppu, Msgr. D.J. D’Silva and Msgr.W.A Lewis finally inspected and suggested the building of the new church at the western side of the presbytery.

On 18 February 1960, Most Rev. Dr. Raymond D’Mello, Bishop of Mangalore approved the construction plan and in his absence Msgr. W.A Lewis, the Vicar General laid the foundation stone of the new church building on 25 August 1960.

As the work of the construction of the new church building was in progress, Fr. Miranda sought the intervention of St Joseph and made a vow to St. Joseph that should he succeed in completing the work without debt and loss of health he would propagate his devotion and devote a side altar in his honor. Within two years the church building was ready and on 19 July 1962, Feast of St Vincent De Paul was celebrated in the new church.

To keep his word, Fr. Miranda celebrated the votive thanksgiving mass to St Joseph on 5 August 1962 and devotion to St Joseph was started in the parish, Wednesday being earmarked for the novena of the saint.  Fr Miranda also built the chapel in the cemetery as the  cemetery was a little away from the church and people faced difficulties while attending the funeral services.  The Vicar General Msgr. W. A. Lewis, during his pastoral visit blessed the same.

Bishop Raymond D’Mello, after his return from the foreign tour blessed and inaugurated the new church on12 May1964. The Bishop also concelebrated the Pontifical High Mass on the next day for the parish feast of St. Vincent De Paul.

After 12 years of selfless and dedicated service to the Katapadi Parish, Fr. Miranda was transferred to Valencia and on 28 May 1967, Fr. F.T.M. Lobo took charge as the parish priest of Katapadi Church.

Fr. Lobo was a middle-aged man by the time he started his ministry at Katapadi. All necessary buildings being completed at the church he was free to concentrate most of his time for the spiritual good of his people. Looking sick and quiet Fr Lobo spent more time in the confessional, hearing confessions and counseling the parishioners. During his tenure collections for the construction of the belfry were started. On 22 May 1969 Fr Lobo was transferred and Fr. Golbert Noronha took charge as the parish priest.

Fr. Noronha, though senior by age was very jovial and spirited. He got the belfry constructed and the bell brought from West Germany by the support of Bishop Raymond D’Mello was installed on 18 July 1970. During this time electrification of the church was done by the support of an anonymous donor and the presbytery was electrified. The Catholic Youth Organization, an association of the parish youth was started, new portico to the church was built, mike set donated by Simon Soares was used during the masses and other church services and a fund for supporting the poor students was raised. On 25 November 1973 the Silver Jubilee of the parish was celebrated.

On 1 October 1976, Fr.Charles D’Souza took charge as the parish priest of St. Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi. After having served the nation as a military officer he joined the priestly vocation. Being a simple man with a clear vision, he supported students to acquire higher education. His attempts in this regard went a long way in making the parishioners well educated. On 07 April 1978, Fr. Arthur C.A D’Souza took charge as the next parish priest.

Under Fr. Arthur D’Souza developmental work was given new impetus and at the same time socio-spiritual organizations were given a new direction. The youth organization became stronger. Fredrick Rodrigues donated three chandeliers and other necessary lightings to the church. The electric fans were installed in the sanctuary and church donated by Peter Rodrigues, Catholic Youth Organization members and other parishioners. Martin. R Pinto presented a frame of Our Lady of Assumption. Mr. George Lewis and his children Cynthia and Joyce donated three small chandeliers to the church. Ever active Catholic Youth Organization repaired and rebuilt the cemetery wall.

The new Grotto to the church was constructed from the donations of Vincent Monteiro. People were so moved by the enthusiasm of Fr. Arthur D’Souza that many people generously donated in kind and cash for the development of the church.

Following the passing away of Fr. Arthur D’Souzawhile serving as the parish priest of Katapadi on 5 July 1984,  Fr. John Fernandes was appointed as the parish priest on 1 August 1984. Though his stay at Katapadi was short he won the hearts of the parishioners by his spirituality and good nature.

On 17 May 1986 Fr. Henry Fernandes took charge as the parish priest and served the parishfrom 1986 to 1994 for a period of eight long years. It was during his tenure that many of the unfinished tasks were completed including parochial residence and compound wall. A fund for the support of needy parishioners was organized and interest free loans were given to the parishioners in financial need.

On 7 May 1994 Fr. Wilfred Gonsalves took charge as the parish priest of Katapadi. Having great love for flora and fauna, he went around inspiring people to get in to agricultural activities. During his term, in 1999 the Golden Jubilee of Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi was celebrated. To mark the occasion he along with the parishioners planted 50 coconut saplings and drilled the new bore well.

In the mean time attempts were made to get the Katapadi Parish under the care of the Congregation of the Fathers of the Holy Cross (CSC). The Congregation under the leadership of Fr. Maurice D’Souza CSC started a Holy Cross Students Home at Katapadi in 1982. A request for transfer of the Katapadi Parish was pending with the Bishop of Mangalore. On 14 May 2001, after the transfer of Fr. Wilfred Gonsalves, the charge of the Katapadi Parish was given to the CSC Congregation and Fr. Norbert D’Mello CSC was appointed as its parish priest.

Man of few words but with great capacity for work, Fr. Norbert D’Mello brought about many changes in the life of the parishioners. He got the sanctuary renovated and put up the teak wood ceiling. By the support of Smt. Sophia Soares and her children, he installed a generator and thereby solved the electricity problem. He got the retention walls erected in some parts of the front ground where it was very steep and sloppy. The church roof, portico and the adoration room were re-organized, repaired and rebuilt. He also renovated the presbytery and the church office.  He got the church hall complex built which consisted of other rooms, guest rooms, wash rooms and toilets. It was during his time that a new and attractive belfry was built. He got the lands donated by Smt.Remedia D’Silva and Smt. Kishori Alva registered in the name of the parish.

On 2 July 2007, Fr. Norbert D’Mello handed over the charge of the parish to Fr. Ronald Fernandes CSC as he had to go for higher studies. During his term as the parish priest, Diamond Jubilee of St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Katapadi was celebrated on 18 May 2008 attended by Bishop Aloysius P. D’Souza. The Souvenir of the Diamond Jubilee ‘Vozralh Tupem’ was published under the editorship of Miss. Catherine Rodrigues and the funds collected by this venture were invested in the form of Parish Education and Medical Fund. 

During the Diamond Jubilee year, a house for Peter Zacharia and his family was built and financial support was given to Harold D’Silva to complete his house.  Hilary Pinto and his family were joined by the parishioners in providing new benches with kneelers in the church. The front side of the church ground was paved with interlocks.  During 2010 the pirjentof the parish feast, Andrew D’Silva, donated a new cherelto be used during the festal celebrations. During this time, the house belonging to Louis Cardoza of Lourdes Ward was rebuilt.

Fr. Ronald Fernandes CSC got the cemetery chapel  renovated in 2011. Hilary Pinto donated a piece of land measuring 78 cents which was adjacent to the old cemetery. He also got the compound wall to the new cemetery plot built after leveling the land. An open well was dug up and a pump was installed. A store room and toilets were also built. As a goodwill gesture, three of the Pereira families whose father, Albert Pereira, had donated the old cemetery land, were given a passage road by the side of the cemetery. A 35 KV generator was purchased to the church by the support of Hilary and Mrs. Lorna Pinto. Vincent Pinto of SVP Ward donated new fans to the church. The sound system was replaced, flooring of the church was changed and granite tiles were laid in place of clay tiles. These projects were partly financed by Hilary Pinto and rest was donated by the generous parishioners. The response was so good that even the church could have new teak wood doors. Hilary Pinto renovated the east side of the church compound wall.

After the erection of the Diocese of Udupi in October 2012 with Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo as the Bishop, Katapadi Parish came under its jurisdiction.

On 20May 2013 Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida CSC took charge as the parish priest from Fr. Ronald Fernandes CSC. Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida adopted the drip irrigation system to water the coconut and other plants in the church orchard. He motivated children and the youth of the parish to participate in various socio-cultural activities.  A ‘In home parish magazine’ was started during this period by name ‘Vishenthichi Ruzwath’ to encourage the literary activities of the parishioners.  The old cemetery ground was leveled and a CCTV was installed in the church area.

After being the parish priest for around 2 years, Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida was transferred and in his place Fr. Ronson D’Souza CSC took charge as the parish priest of Katapadi on 15June 2015.

Fr. Ronson D’Souza took care of the spiritual pastoral and overall development of the people of the parish. He  gave importance to complete the unfinished work of the parish. On 2015 July the outside cooking shed was completed which was used during parish functions. On October 2015, the compound wall separating the old and new cemetery plots was removed.Two large LED TVs donated by Stany Pereira and family from St. Vincent De Paul Ward were installed in the church for the display of the liturgical hymns and prayers. A new laptop was purchased for this purpose. In June 2017, Carmelite Missionaries Sisters arrived to Katapadi Parish to start their new ministry. 

27August 2017 was a memorable day for the youth and parishioners of St. Vincent De Paul Church Katapadi as they held diocesan level sports day for the diocesan youth known as Gadyanth yuva Ekvot 2017. 750 youth from 29 parishes of the Udupi Diocese participated in the event. Youth made use of that field to cultivate paddy.

In September 2017 a new sound system was installed in the church and the old one was shifted to the church hall. In the same year church garden close to the presbytery was renovated, new lights were added to the church garden; the statue of St. Vincent De Paul which was donated by Mrs. Sophia Soares and family of SVP Ward was kept in the middle of the garden.New CCTVs were installed in and around the church for the security purpose. This venture was partially sponsored by the YCS unit of the parish.

Following the collapse of the old wall during the rainy season, construction of the new compound wall all along the northern side of the church property was done in 2017-2018. This project was partially assisted by the Karnataka Government’s Minority Aid Commission.Wherever required new railings were fixed to help senior citizens to climb or descend the steps in and outside the church.In April 2019, the long abandoned open well was cleaned and secured with new cement rings so that clean water could be used for domestic purpose. New motor and pipelines were also added.

In 2018 the cemetery was given a new shape with new compound walls, new interlocks, new path way sand  beautiful garden and plants. New pipe lines were added to the cemetery.  Two new hand wash places were also built, Evangelist Suares and late Mrs. Philomena Suares of Ruzar Ward partly sponsored the project. The cemetery renovation project took almost a year to complete costing around Rs. 35 lakhs. The Government of Karnataka’s Minority Aid Commission provided the stipulated grants for the renovation of the cemetery. Most Rev. Dr. Gerald Isaac Lobo Bishop blessed and inaugurated the newly renovated cemetery on 2 November 2019.

St. Vincent De Paul Parish, Katapadi witnessed the devotion of the people towards the saints and many of the parishioners donated new statues of various saints to the church. New automatic bell ringer was fixed to the church bell in the year 2019. This project was sponsored by Katapadi Konkans of Dubai.

The church cemetery got another beautiful structure as the new arch was built at the entrance of the cemetery. This project was donated in memory of late Michael Pinto and late Mrs. Catherine Pinto by their family members of SVP Ward. It was inaugurated by Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo on 8 February 2020 during his pastoral visit to the parish.

In the month of March 2020 Carmelite Missionaries Sisters closed their mission in Katapadi.

The outbreak Covid 19 pandemic and keeping in mind the instructions of the Government, church was closed for the public worship from March 2020.

The parishioners helped in removing the tiled roof and to build new roof with iron beams and rust-free iron sheets to the church presbytery. Along with this project a new water harvesting system was put into effect.

For administrative purpose 2 new computers and a new printer was purchased with help of anonymous donors.

On 8 July 2020, four deacons from the Congregation of the Holy Cross were ordained as priests by Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo in the presence of the Holy Cross priest and other priests of the diocese. Due to pandemic only 50 guests were allowed for the ceremony.

On humanitarian grounds, during Covid 19, food kits were distributed to 40 poor families with the help of the parishioners. As the pandemic subsided the church was reopened for public worship from 30 of August 2020 with necessary precautions.

New pipelines were installed to the church farm as the old drip irrigation system was not functioning properly. The Catholic Sabha Katapadi unit joining with Catholic Sabha Udupi Pradesh repaired the house of Mrs. Angeline Pinto of Piad Ward and built a new house for Gilbert Pinto of the Ruzar Ward.

The Documents of the parish were put in order with the help of the diocesan authorities. All the documents and records of the church were digitalized with help of the youth of the parish. 

During the second wave of Covid 19 pandemic, 120 food kits were distributed to deserving families with the help of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and the parishioners.

A number of religious and spiritual as well as socio-cultural activities took place during the tenure of Fr. Ronson D’Souza CSC as the parish priest of St. Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi.

Fr. Rajesh Pasanna CSC took over as the Parish Priest of St. Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi on 05-07-2021; as a new parish priest his first task was to put in order the church land records.  St. Vincent De Paul Church, Katapadi is about to celebrate its Platinum Jubilee in 2023