159-yr-old St Patrick’s cathedral closed till Aug 14 for renovation

The repair and renovation of the church — one of the city’s important landmarks and located adjacent to the Empress Garden — had been undertaken a year ago. The imposing cathedral,the headquarters of the Pune Bishop,is the principal church of the Pune diocese and has the highest number of parishioners — 13,000 in the Pune diocese.

It was on December 8,1850,that the first Mass was celebrated at the church,built mainly to cater to the Catholic soldiers and others settled in Wanowrie and nearby areas. The historical structure had stood the test of time but had been in need of substantial repairs. “On July 15,1984,the roof of the old cathedral collapsed and not a singe statue,holy picture or the sanctuary area were damaged.”

While the cathedral was rebuilt with the new vault roof designed by architect Charles Correa,the repair work include water proofing of the roof,replastering of turrets,replacing wooden doors and fixing 16 stain glass panels on windows.

“The chapel has been renovated,” said Sequeira who has requested the parishioners to send in photographs of events like baptism,marriages and others held at the cathedral. It will help us to document and record the happenings and how the church looked then,he said.

Christians to observe ‘Black Day’ over SC status demand
Christians in the city will observe August 10 as Black Day to protest against the denial of Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims. A statement issued by Rev Fr Raphael Muntode,Commission for SC/ST/OBC,Diocese of Poona,said that Christians will wear black bands to protest the centre’s alleged non-secular attitude. Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims have challenged the constitutional validity of paragraph 3 of the 1950 order,the release said,adding that a memorandum of their demands will be signed by several Christians and handed over to the District Collector on Tuesday.