The Old Church: The foundation of the original St Peter’s Church was laid in April 12, 1852, by Bishop Hartmann. The Church was completed in September 1853. It measured approximately 100 by 75 feet. In 1867 a second storey was added to the old top floor.
The storey above the Church was at first used as the priests’ residence and parish school. In 1855, the Jesuit Seminary was transferred from Surat to Bandra, and the seminary and the parish schools were merged. In 1863, the seminary was again transferred to Bombay, and the Boys’ Orphanage from Bombay came to Bandra. This was the beginning of the St Stanislaus’ High School.
The New Church: As far back as August 1887, the then Archbishop of Bombay issued the following appeal: “The poor parish of St. Peter’s Bandora, numbers with the orphans (boys and girls) 2215 souls and has for a church the floor of the boys’ Orphanage. This place is much too small and is ill-suited for divine service. A new and more spacious Church is much needed and will be a great benefit to the poor Parishioners and the Orphans”.
The growing needs of the parish necessitated the building of a larger Church, and so in September, 1938, Archbishop Thomas Roberts, S.J. blessed the foundation stone of the present St Peter’s Church.
The new Church has been built on the site of the old and has been designed on the Romanesque style.
The cost of the new St. Peter’s Church was Rs. 2,70,000/-. The whole Church building measures 130 ft by 80 ft.
In front, as one enters, stands a life-size marble statue of Christ bearing the inscription I am the Resurrection and the Life.
St Peter’s is capacious and can accommodate a thousand people easily. Inside, its excellent stained-glass windows, around twenty in number, look resplendent in the sunshine or when the lights are on.
st peter church bandra
