Parish History

Present Church Building

Statue of St Ignatius of Loyola and paintings done by Br Antonio Moscheini

Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes

Statue Of St Joseph

Parish History. . .

After the fall of Constantinople, the Ottoman Turks blocked all the land routes of trade to Eastern Countries. This was a great blow for trade between the Eastern and the Western countries. Therefore, King Mannuel I of Portugal appointed Vasco-De Gama, a navigator, to discover sea-route for trade; and Vasco-De Gama set out from Portugal and arrived in Calicut on the Malabar coast of India on May 20, 1498. Alphonse Albuquerque, the Governor of Portuguese-India, expanded Portuguese influence across Indian Ocean and captured Goa in 1510 by sending his army through sea-route discovered by Vasco-De-Gama. In those days, Mangalore was reigned by a Jain kings of Ikkeri-Bidanur. From 1521 AD onwards captain Dasampayo along with a group of Portuguese merchants established trade relationship with the king of Ikkeri.

In 1565, Adil Shah, Sultan of Bijapur attacked the king of Ikkeri and subjugated the coastal belt of Mangalore. This hindered the Portuguese to continue their trade in India. In 1568, King Emmanuel I of Portugal sent commander Duvarthe with a huge army and defeated Adil Shah, the Sultan of Bijapur. Pleased with this development, the king of Ikkeri permitted the Portuguese to establish their trade centres in Mangalore Fort.  The Portuguese built St. Sebastian Fort (near DC office) and invited Domincan Priests to start their mission. They built Holy Rosary Church at Hoige Bazar, Mother Mary’s Church at Ullal, and St. Francis Assisi church at Farangipet. Thereafter, Christianity spread in the coastal belt of South Canara.

On May 12, 1845, Monsignor Bernardin OCD was appointed Coadjuctor to the Vicar Apostolic of Verapoly and Pro-Vicar Apostolic of Mangalore. He was consecrated at Verapoly on the  October 5, 1845 and he arrived Mangalore on  November 8, 1845. He exercised Episcopal ministry in the parishes of Canara coast, which accepted jurisdiction of Propaganda Fide.

On March 15, 1853, Canara was separated by the Holy See entirely and definitively from Verapoly, and the Carmelite Father Michael Antony of St. Louis Gonzaga, Vicar General to the Vicar Apostolic of Bombay, was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Mangalore. He, who was consecrated in Bombay, arrived in Mangalore on September 3, 1853. Bishop Michael brought the Seminary back to Monte Mariano. Acquiring a plot of ground at Jeppu with a plan of shifting the Seminary to the "Bishop's House" to be put up there. Shortly after his arrival in Mangalore he bought the plot of ground upon which St Joseph’s Inter-diocesan Seminary of Jeppu now stands. Bishop Michael shifted the Seminary from Monte Mariano to the house at Jeppu around 1868. The Seminarians occupied what is now roughly the Catechumenate and the Boys’ school, whereas the present location of the convent of Sisters of Charity was the Bishop's residence. The Bishop himself resided in the other wing and acted as the immediate Superior of Seminarians. In 1870, Bishop Mary Ephrem OCD succeeded Bishop Michael. Bishop Mary Ephrem OCD promoted the formation of the native clergy and the Seminary assumed the nature of Diocesan clergy.

In 1878, Pope Leo XIII handed over the Canara Mission to the care of the Jesuits of the Province of Venice, Italy. As a result, the Jesuits arrived in Mangalore on December 31, 1878 through the sea route via Rome, Bombay and Goa. They accepted the administration of Spiritual and social activities in Mangalore.  During the period of 1879-1892, they established many social service centres and religious institutions to render service. Some of these institutions are – St Aloysius School (Now St Aloysius College), Codialbail Press, Father Muller Hospital Kankanady, St Joseph’s Seminary, St Joseph Workshop, St Joseph Orphanage, and other Schools in rural and urban areas. The Jesuits looked after the orphan boys in Jeppu and the Sisters of Charity (Maria Bambina Sisters) took care of the orphan girls. They educated the orphans, trained them in Carpentry, Tailoring, Embroidery, settled them in marriage, built houses for them and helped them to build their families.

“When the Jesuits came to Mangalore, they found a Seminary at Jeppoo in the building now serving as the infirmary of St. Joseph’s Asylum.” Rev. Fr Nicholas Pagani, the Pro-Vicar, took his residence at Jeppu and took a personal care of the Seminary. The inauguration of the reorganized Seminary was performed on the 11th January 1879 under the patronage of St Aloysius. There were ten Seminarians.

The foundation stone for the new building of the Seminary (at the present location) was laid by Bishop Nicholas Pagani on September 8, 1887. In 1890, the building was ready for the occupation and the Seminary was moved to the new location in the beginning of April 1890. St. Joseph’s Church was blessed on March 8, 1891 by Bishop Nicholas Pagani, S.J. It became the Chapel (Church) of the Seminary for the seminarians. On December 20, 1891 three church bells were blessed by the Bishop. It was Br Moscheni who did the beautiful paintings of St Joseph, the Grotto with Our Lady of Lourdes and of St Ignatius of Loyola. A duchess from Austria donated the paintings of Saints Augustine, Monica, Ann, Francis of Assisi and Thomas.

The house Diary has the following entry in 1897: “Finally one cannot but mention here with a grateful heart the new good deed done by the noble lady of Mangalore, the widow Mrs. Mary Magdalene Coelho who has made gifts of money repeatedly and in large amounts both to this House and to the whole Mission. Indeed this time she donated to us six hundred rupees in order to have the statue of St Joseph embellished as it was set up on the main altar of our Church. That embellishment was made in the form of canopy, and in keeping with the entire architecture of the Church and was designed by Fr Diamanti and fashioned in our workshop. May St Joseph in whose honour the money was donated hear our pleas and prayers so that the lady receives abundant reward from Him who is our highest reward!”

Due to the catechumenate, St Joseph Workshop and Seminary, there were Christian settlements in Jeppu, which gradually considered “Jeppu Ward” under the spiritual guidance of the priests of the Seminary. As there were new settlements, there were some Christian families around St Joseph’s Seminary and the priests of the Seminary catered to their spiritual needs. The establishment of St Joseph Workshop increased the new settlements over the years. St Joseph’s Seminary Church also became the center of their spiritual activities. Both the Seminarians and the people used the same Church for their spiritual activities. Up to 1922, “Jeppu Ward” was considered a part of St Joseph Catechumenate and the Rector of the Seminary was their Director.

Going back to the records, we find St Joseph's Church, Jeppu marked as the parish in the Directory of the Diocese of Mangalore from 1925 onwards. The above mentioned Directory states: “What was originally established as a Catechumenate in the neighbourhood of St Joseph’s Seminary has now developed into a settlement consisting of orphanages, homes for the sick and old, and of a fairly large number of families forming a total population of 733. This settlement is treated as a small parish by itself, and the Rector of the Seminary is invested with the parochial jurisdiction over it. The church of the Seminary is parish church of the settlement.”

As the number of lay people increased over the years, the Seminarians were shifted to the academy hall temporarily around 1950 A.D. Hence, the Seminarians’ daily liturgy and worship was shifted to the academy hall (Sacred Heart Hall) and continued to be there till a new chapel was built for them inside in 1962.

However, from 1980, the Bishop of Mangalore appointed parish priests to St Joseph’s Church, Jeppu to those Jesuit priests who were presented to be so by the Provincial of the Jesuits.

In 1995, Society of Jesus completed their mission at Jeppu and handed over the St Joseph’s Interdiocesan Seminary to the Dioceses of Mangalore and Calicut and St Joseph’s Church Jeppu was handed over to the Diocese of Mangalore to be administered by the Diocesan clergy.

Currently Jeppu Parish has grown as a beautiful and united parish community with 287 families, consisting 1208 people of God (faithful). With the blessings of St Joseph, the Patron of Jeppu Church, guidance and training by the Jesuits, the parishioners prospered and progressed at various levels. As the children of Jeppu received free education, men and women got employment, houses to live in and spiritual help, enabled them to develop their various talents in music, playing the band, choir, acting dramas and sports have brought name and fame to Jeppu Parish.