The first St. Michael’s Church was founded in 1971 by Fr. Barnabas Maddii OFM Cap, an Italian Capuchin, as a little chapel close to the British Air force base. In 1973 Fr. Barnabas shifted it into the then British officers’ mess. The kitchen area was converted into the Parish house. Father Barnabas was succeeded by Fathers Attilio, Edmund, Antonino, Felicio, Godwin, Angelo, Ani Xavier, Fr.Varghese Chempoly, and my self, Fr. Savarimuthu Antony Samy from 31st of January 2021.
Under the guidance and support of Bishop Bernard Gremoli the new Church was built by Fr. Angelo Fiumicelli and his dedicated team. The present St. Michael’s Church was consecrated on 2nd October 1997 by Cardinal Artinze from the Vatican with Fr. Angelo as the First Parish Priest.
At present there are 6 priests: Fr. Savarimuthu Antony Samy (Tamil Nadu), Fr. Deo Fernando Quinto (Philippines), Fr. Denis Saldanha (Karnataka), Fr. John Thundiyath, Fr. Jose Vattukulathil Alexander (Kerala) and Fr. Maged Moussa (Lebanon). There are about 40,000 parishioners of multi-lingual, ritual and nationalities. Over 4,000 children study Catechism in 3 days- Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
We have 35 prayer groups in different languages, gathering every week for prayer meetings and Holy Masses are celebrated in different languages (English, Konkani, Malayalam, Tamil, Arabic, Urdu, Sinhalese, Tagalog). We have 167 Extra-ordinary Eucharistic Ministers,139 Lectors, 28 choirs, 80 Volunteers and 113 altar servers
Our motto is "One God, One faith, One Church and one family".
We are grateful to H.E. Paolo Martinelli for his constant support and guidance, to all parishioners for their cooperation, generous support and contribution towards the well-being of the whole parish.
Fr. Savarimuthu Antony Samy OFM Cap.
Parish Priest.