Bandra church focuses on youth on its 400th anniversary

St. Andrew's Church in Bandra is one of the oldest churches in Mumbai.

Mumbai:  The 400th anniversary of the founding of St. Andrew's Church in Bandra in Mumbai was celebrated with a special Holy Mass dedicated to the young.

The Eucharistic celebration was animated with theatrical dramatizations and music, explained Fr. Caesar D'Mello, the pastor of St. Andrew’s church. Furthermore, "the different moments of the Mass were explained in their deeper meaning."

The priest said that while planning the Jubilee celebrations, the general feeling was that “our young people deserve more pastoral attention: we must do more for them, because, after all, the future belongs to the young”.

Hence the decision was made to celebrate it with a choir from different parishes, and then followed by an entertainment program, in which artists from all over the city performed.

The joyous celebration, which was also attended by many adults, was also marked by the original "prayer against slavery".

In his homily Jesuit Fr. Errol Fernandes explained that "the Mass is not a ritual, but an event that makes God present among us" and that therefore "Christ remains and continues to be there after the final blessing".

St. Andrew's Church in Bandra is one of the oldest churches in Mumbai. It celebrated the 400th anniversary of the parish elevation, dated 1616. The church was built twenty years earlier, in 1595, by the Portuguese Jesuits, in the maritime area.

Source: Agenzia Fides