St Luke's Church, Delhi

Aug 18, 2022

Festivals like Christmas and Easter are celebrated at the church with great devotion and attract a large gathering of people from all regions. Besides, the church is also thronged with devotees, mainly the church’s members, on Sundays. Not just this, the church also observes Sunday school for children to impart to them about Christianity along with moral values. However, the teachers are fathers, parents, nuns, and volunteers from the church itself. Moreover, the church hosts masses in English, Hindi, and Malayalam language.

History

St. Luke’s Church in Defence Colony was established by Archbishop Angelo Innocent Fernandes, Archbishop of Delhi, in the year 1978. St. Luke Church is a Roman Catholic church in Delhi and is also one of the most revered Christian shrines in the city. The church is named after the patron saint Luke - the only non-jew who gave his significant contribution to the New Testament. If we talk about the history of this place, the church has a unique story associated with its establishment in Defence Colony. The reason behind the name of this particular colony is that during the time of its establishment, the plots here were only be allocated to defense people from all three wings - Air Force, Navy, and Army. Besides, the plot where the church stands today was earlier allotted to an Army major who died because of a heart attack. The plot was later acquired by another person who also suffered a heart attack and died. As a result of this, the land was rejected by the people as a curse because of the deaths of the previous two owners. This was the time when Fr. Charles and Fr. Pascal Rodrigues was looking for some property in Defence Colony to build a church. They came to know about this vacant place and the church decided to acquire the property. Because it was a residential region, the place was used earlier as a residential house with the name St. Luke’s residence.