The renovated St. Francis Xavier Church will be inaugurated at Udyavara near Udupi on April 28. Addressing presspersons here recently, Rev. Fr. Dr. Roque D’Souza, parish priest, said that one of the features of the church is the 12-feet all-weather fibre glass statue of Christ the Redeemer on the top of the 105 feet dome. The niches above windows and doors are decorated with stained glasses depicting many Biblical motifs, 14 Stations of the Cross and 20 Mysteries of the Rosary.
With the U-shape balcony, the whole church provides for 900 seats with pews for worshipers. The dome imitates the features of the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican. Apart from the church and new bell tower, many additional works had been completed. They include installation of 10 KV solar power production unit and construction of seven pits for harvesting rain water around the Church building.
The new church building stood in the same location of the church built in 1909. The first church was built in 1866 at Melpete. Due to the marshy nature of the site, it was shifted to its present location in 1909. The Udyavara parish has history of about 150 years. The State government had sanctioned Rs. 50 lakh for the construction work of the church and had already released Rs. 25 lakh for it. Local people had contributed generously for the construction of the building. Most Rev. Dr. Gerald D’Almeida, Bishop of Jabalpur Diocese will inaugurate the new church.
Vinay Kumar Sorake, Urban Development Minister, U.T. Khadar, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Oscar Fernandes and Shobha Karandlaje, MPs, will be present.
