About Cathedral of the Holy Name – Situated in the prominent commercial centre of Colaba, it stands as a reminder of the colonial era. The foundation stone of the building was laid on 9th July 1902 while it was opened for devotees on 15th January 1905 as a parish. After it was consecrated as a cathedral on 28th November 1964, it has been serving as the Archbishop’s seat and mother church of the Archdiocese. In 1998, Cathedral of the Holy Name was declared as a heritage building.

Today, the Cathedral continues to be the Seat of the Archbishop and is the ‘Mother Church’ of the Archdiocese. It is home to a vibrant and dedicated Parish community that endeavours, with the aid of its priests, to fulfill the ‘vision and mission’ it has adopted. There have been alterations and additions over time, in keeping with necessary changes and improvements.

The main doors of Colaba’s Holy Name Church and Bandra’s Mount Mary Church have been declared ‘Holy Doors of Mercy’. These doors will now become pilgrimage sites for Catholics to walk though, asking for grace, purification and forgiveness from sins. Both doors will remain open to the public until November 13 2016. This follows Pope Francis’s declaration of this being a ‘year of mercy’ and his historic order to open such doors in designated churches in every diocese for community members who cannot journey to Rome. Until now, there had been only one Holy Door of Mercy at the Vatican, a side door that had been specially designated for this purpose.