It was the September of 1952 which set the ball rolling for the Jacobite Syrian Christian congregation in the historic city of Pune when His Grace Abraham Mar Clemis along with Rev. Fr. Jacob Parayil and Rev. Fr. Kurian Kaniyamparambil visited Pune and conducted Holy Mass at St. Paul’s Church.After the Holy Mass, His Grace had discussions with the Bishop of Bombay and made arrangements for conducting Holy Mass regularly for the Jacobite Syrian Christian faith in Pune.
In 1964,after the visit of His Holiness Patrairch of Antioch Yakoab III to India (and after the consecration of H. G. Augen I as the Catholicos) the long period of litigation came to an end and the resultant atmosphere of reconciliation saw the amalgamation of the Jacobite Syrian Church and the Orthodox Syrian Church ,Pune. Both the parishes started functioning as a single unit in Pune under the Bishop of Outside Kerala Diocese. Matters moved along the normal course for the next eight years.
In 1972,the controversial issue of the claim of the new throne of St. Thomas cropped up which was perceived as an attack on the fundamental faith of many Jacobite Syrian Christians who always believed in the Supreme Spiritual and administrative authority of His Holiness the Patriarch.A devoted group of followers had a series of detailed brain storming discussions and then presented their grievances and suggestions to His Grace Geevarghese Mar Gregorios Perumpally for his consideration.
His Grace deputed Rev. Fr. Anthraose to visit Pune during August 1974 and assess the situation. He conducted Holy Qurbana at All Saints Church,Kirkee which acted as a morale booster to the Jacobite Syrian Christians of Pune.
Subsequently as per our request and advice of His Grace Geevarghese Mar Gregorios, very Rev. Jacob Kurickal of Bombay visited Pune on 9th January 1975 and assessed the situation in consultation with many of the members. He conducted the Holy Qurbana at Zion Hills, Dehu Road the next day,the 10th of January 1975.This day is a golden day in the history of St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church,Pune. Thereafter,regular services were conducted at Methodist Church,Kirkee and Holy Angel’s Church,Rastapeth.Christmas Carol was started since 1975 and continues on a regular basis till today.First General Body Meeting of our church was held after the Easter Sunday Service in 1975 at Holy Angels Church, Poona.
In the year 1976,His Beatitude Baselius Paulose II Catholicos of the East visited Bombay for the Lent Services. From there he visited Pune and conducted Holy Service here.This greatly kindled the flame of enthusiasm in our members.Realising the urgent need for an efficient and active priest at Pune for organizing the activities,His Beatitude nominated Rev. Fr. Abraham Valiaparambil and his secretary Rev. Dn.A A Mathews to look after our spiritual needs. Later, Rev. Dn. A A Mathews was ordained and posted as our Vicar.
Under the leadership of Rev. Fr. A A Mathews there was considerable progress for the infant parish.During his tenure,St. Mary’s Society was formed on 11th January 1979 to safeguard the interests of our church with all the active members of St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church,Pune.Subsequent to the decision of the universal synod,Senior Jacobite Syrian Christians of Pune having allegiance to the Patrairch of Antioch and all the East had negotiations with the members of the Orthodox Syrian Church,Pune regarding share of the common assets which was finally settled amicably. This fund was later utilized for the purchase of a plot at Yerwada.
The agreement for the purchase of the first part was executed and the sale deed was executed on 17-1-1979.The Managing Committee experienced considerable difficulties in raising the required amount.Some of our members voluntarily gave interest free loans for this noble cause.
In 1980,for fund collection, our then Vicar visited Gulf countries.During that time,he had the privilege to witness the consecration ceremony of our present Patriach at the Holy city of Antioch. With the amount collected from Gulf countries and the funds raised by the Harvest festival, special fund collection and coupon sales, our Parsonage building was constructed.
On 15th August 1983 His Beatitude the Catholicos and the Diocesen Bishop participated in the Outside Kerala Diocese Delegates meeting in Pune and laid the foundation stone of our Church building in the presence of the Diocesan Bishop H. G. Thomas Mar Theophilose on the same day. His Beatitude and H.G. expressed their desire to see the Church building completed expeditiously.
During May 1984,we were able to negotiate the purchase of additional 600 sq.mt. of land adjacent to our existing plot and an agreement for this purchase was executed. The sale deed was executed on 4th December 1986 with the initiative of then Vicar Rev. Fr. Raju John. The committee experienced considerable financial difficulties at this time to raise funds to execute the sale deed. We had to raise loans from members on returnable basis.
After the sad demise of His Grace Thomas Mar Theophilose, His Grace Thomas Mar Themotheous was appointed as our Diocesan Bishop on 3rd January 1991.Thereby, we got an efficient young and dynamic Bishop as the Head of Outside Kerala Diocese. Ever since his appointment, he showed keen interest in our activities. Within a short span of time, he has visited us three times. With his inspiration and advise, we started working with enthusiasm to achieve the goal of constructing a community hall cum church on our plot. Though we had proposed to construct a temporary chapel due to financial constraints, His Grace gave encouragement to start construction of a permanent church cum community hall which is the aspiration of the parishioners since many years.
During the period between 1992 to 1995 a lot of funds were collected through Harvest festivals, musical programs, sovineor publications, etc under the leadership of Fr. Wilson Jacob. The construction activity was also initiated during this period and later on the ground floor of the church was completed. In the meantime Rev. Fr. K.V.John took over as the Vicar and the construction activities progressed in piece meal depending upon the availability of funds. During the tenure of rev. Fr. K.K.Cherian, the construction of the second floor of the church building commenced and progressed effectively. He was also instrumental in initiating the English Qurbana once in a month for the benefit of the not so well malayalam conversant youngsters. The second floor building work of our church was completed during the tenure of rev. Fr. Kuriakose George. The Alter of the church was also modified and the Mooron Khudasha of the church was consegrated by His Beatitude Baselious Thomas I Catholicose on 24th Sept 2003. During the tenure of Rev. Fr. Philip Vaidyan, the Play School was converted into a full fledged school with the Maharashtra State Board English medium caricullam. The school is presently upto std IV. Our aim is to make the school effective upto std X.
