top of page
Church Face.jpg

OUR CHURCH HISTORY

St. John Paul II Church began as a mass centre in November 2010 with the appointment of Late Fr. Agnelo Gomes (Born: 12-05-1967, Born in heaven: 07-04-2019) as the Priest-in-charge. The mass would initially be celebrated at the Prerana Bhavan Chapel with the Sisters of Missionaries of Charity and two  to three families in attendance; that of Mr. Martin Joseph and Mr. Rozario Fernandes. The attendance eventually grew with more and more people coming in every Sunday. As the attendance increased we fell short of space in the chapel and the sisters were kind enough to allow us shift the mass to their hall. Moving to the hall though was a challenge for the sisters. The space that was meant for the inmates was now being used for mass. The sisters had to make alternative arrangements for the inmates so that parishioners could attend mass. Apart from sharing their space, the sisters helped with setting up the altar, flowers and chairs every Sunday. They served our community silently and selflessly for all these years. Our community is extremely grateful to the sisters.

​

1st March 2015 – Foundation stone blessed by Bishop Thomas Dabre
The church building project has gone through the tenure of 3 PDC secretaries. The project was 1st initiated by Late Fr. Nelson Machado, then carried on to Fr. Malcolm Sequeira who was instrumental in giving the work order. It was completed during the tenure of Fr. Dominic Adams.

​

Along the way we were faced with some tragic moments through the untimely loss of our first parish priest Fr. Agnelo Gomes on 7th April 2019 who suffered a cardiac arrest and within a couple of month’s subsequently with the loss of Fr. Vincent Silway on 2nd June 2019 who suffered a hemorrhage. Fr. Agnelo Gomes who was a very simple and down to earth human being was particularly passionate about seeing this project through and had put in a lot of effort in raising funds for the building and following up on the progress of the construction.

​

In August 2019 this project which was far from complete was submitted into the capable hands of our Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Simon Almeida who has had a vast experience especially with construction projects in our diocese, beginning with building the Parish Hall and the office at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, to building St. Francis Xavier Church in Chinchwad, and now successfully completing this massive church of St. John Paul II, Wakad. He was faced with huge challenges, especially with the onset of the Covid pandemic. He had worked relentlessly to bring this project to its fruition.

​

The Dedication and Inauguration of St. John Paul II Church was done on Sunday, 16th January 2022 at the hands of Bishop Thomas Dabre. Through the completion of this project we see the manifestation of the Holy Spirit through everyone who have worked and contributed towards building this house of God.

12.jpg
bottom of page