St. Andrew’s Church, Bandra (1575)

The year is 1568, and the Portuguese Jesuits have been given charge of the salty-aired Salsette Island. By 1575, they had built St. Andrew’s Church, but Christianity was still not popular.

Enter Brother Manoel Gomes, the Apostle of Salsette. Ordained in 1583, he set about learning the local customs and language. His efforts made Catholicism more accessible to the indigenous communities, and by 1603, the entire population of Salsette had converted to Catholicism, with St. Andrew’s Church as its religious epicentre. In March 1739, the British blew up the Church of St. Anne, leaving the Church of St. Andrew as the only church in Bandra till 1853. It is now the oldest church in the city.