Holy Cross Church, Kurla

Holy Cross Church, Kurla is a Roman Catholic Church in Kurla, a suburb of Mumbai, India. It was built during the Portuguese era by the Jesuits in 1588 and rebuilt in 1848. It is one of the oldest churches in Mumbai. The church belongs to the Archdiocese of Bombay.HistorySt. Francis Xavier had written the King of Portugal, requesting land near the village of Kurla on Salcette Island to build a church and residence. On February 22, 1570, King Sebastian of Portugal wrote from Evora confirming the donation of the Villages of Bandra and Kurla, as well as Saki and Mohili in favour of the Jesuits of St. Paul’s College of Goa. This was because Goa was the headquarters of the Jesuits of Asia and St. Francis Xavier was the first Provincial Superior of India and the Far East. On November 1, 1572 this donation was re-affirmed by the Royal Court of Lisbon. The Jesuits came to Kurla and Bandra in 1573 and the first small Chapel was built in the same year. References were made in 1580 to "the Church built by the Jesuits of Bandra in 1580”. By 1586, two Priests and two Brothers, residing at Bandra, cared for the parishioners of Kurla, spelt by the Portuguese of the time as “Curulem” or “Corlem”. The Jesuits used to come on Sundays and Feast days of obligation to celebrate Mass, teach Catechism and help Catholics.The Church was initially called “Iglesia de San Salvador” (Church of Our Holy Saviour). The name was then changed to 'Invencao de Santa Cruz', Church of the finding of the Holy Cross which was soon shortened to “Church of the Holy Cross”, presumably due to special devotions to the Cross of Christ as mentioned in the Annual Letters to Rome of Jesuits of India, found in the Monumenta Historica Societatis lesu and the Documenta Indica.