Our Lady of Angels Church, Puducherry – History

Our Lady of Angels Church, Puducherry – History

Established by the Capuchins, three other churches with the same name preceded the current one. Indeed, the first French cleric to settle down in Pondicherry, as early as 1674, belonged to the Capuchin order. A first church was built in 1707, a year after the death of François Martin, the first French Governor of Pondicherry. When it grew small and threatened to collapse, a second church was built between 1739 and 1758, under the rule of Governors Dumas and his successor Dupleix. But like most of the city around it, it was razed to the ground by the English in 1761.

A third church, of which only the square bell-tower and the reallocated nave remain, was then built at the corner of the streets Dumas and Surcouf, from 1765 to 1770. In 1828, the Capuchins gave way to the Holy Spirit Fathers, who built the current church (from 1851 to 1855) during the episcopate of Msgr. Bonnand, Vicar Apostolic of the Coromandel coast. The original structure was built in Greco Roman architecture by Napolean III (c. 1852-70) in 1855, with the architect being Louis Guerre. It is believed to be based on Notre Dame de Paris in Paris and the Basilica at Lourdes.

Napolean III visited the chapel as the first place when he visited Pondicherry. It is understood that there were four churches in the campus and British demolished the church and converted it into two orphanages. It is believed that king Napolean III donated an oil painting of Our Lady of Assumption to the church. Credit for its construction must be given to the engineer Louis Guerre (1800-1865), descended from a family based in Pondicherry since the eighteenth century; he also built many other beautiful residences in the neighbourhood, including the Vice-consul’s residence and the presbytery. 

The construction of the entire building is of the same nature: made up of brickwork with lime mortar and sand for the foundations, the rising walls and the vaults and arches. Priests from the Paris Foreign Missions Society began to replace the Holy Spirit Fathers from 1887 onwards. The church since it was built, has traditionally housed a priest from France, but since 2008, it is being served by a French-speaking Tamil priest, Fr. Michael John Antonysamy.

The Capuchins being a Franciscan Order, the church derives its name from the St. Mary of the Angels Basilica in Assisi, which contains the ‘Portioncule’, the little chapel that was restored by Saint Francis and where he founded his first community. The church of Our Lady of Angels is the only church in Pondicherry where mass is celebrated every Sunday, in all the three languages of the city: French, English and Tamil.

In the early days, the church was completely white — inside and outside — giving it the name ‘White Chapel'. The white of the chapel used to be painted with egg whites mixed with limestone. The Tamil name — Kaps Koil — comes from the Capuchin Monks, who were the first priests in the church.