The Seminary at Parel was the Village in the Valley, the new Seminary at Goregaon is surely the Castle on the Hill. The way up-hill is never easy. It involves unchartered territories, strenuous strides, fearless faith, and quiet perseverance. The journey to Goregaon was similar but what set the Bombay Seminary on the road again? Here are a few factors to consider:

The Space Crunch  

This is vividly vouched for by the statistics. Nine seminarians in 1936; thirty-four in 1940; seventy-one in 1945; eighty in 1950; ninety-eight in 1955 and over one hundred and ten in 1960. As the number kept increasing there is no denying that the Lima Seminary faced a huge space crunch. In 1940, a hastily constructed wing was added to the old one-storeyed building at its south side but to no relief. The question remained ‘What about the years to come?’ It was Parel and yet, not Parel!

The Seminary cum Parish set-up

On April 22, 1877, the Parel Convent Chapel was opened. As the Catholic population in the environs grew, several Portuguese Church parishioners preferred to attend services at the Parel St Joseph’s Chapel. Thus when the Seminary was inaugurated in 1936, the Chapel continued to serve the faithful especially with regards to Sunday worship. Soon the Seminary Fathers organized catechism classes and attended to the pressing needs of the people. This paved the way for the creation of a full-fledged parish at Upper Parel dedicated to St. Paul on March 12, 1941.

The Rectors of the Seminary Fr. Valls S.J. and Fr. Lamolla S.J. were also appointed Parish Priest from March 1941 to April 1944. A Parish school was soon opened in the shed alongside the main seminary building. The Parel Seminary found itself amidst several activities of the Parish. It is not surprising then that the ecclesiastical authorities, anticipating future developments of the two institutions, recognized the need to move the Bombay Seminary again.