After the decisive victory of 1818, the British had full control over the Pune region. They had their battalions stationed at Wanawadi and Khadki and also established a Cantonment in the present Camp area for administrative purposes.
Since the Chapel of ‘Nossa Senhora de Conceicao’ (Our Lady of Conception) was within city limits outside the Cantonment area, it started to get referred to as City Chapel and later on City Church.
Fr M Antao from City Chapel used to visit Khadki and Wanawadi as a Military Chaplin to minister to the Catholic troops and he was paid for this by the Government. This arrangement continued till 1835, when the Propaganda Vicar Apostolic of Bombay appointed their own priests as Military Chaplain.
As this Chapel was found to be too small for the growing strength, the Goan faithful which now numbered nearly 1,500, it was extended in 1852 while Fr Conceicao was still the priest in charge. The project received a grant of Rs 12,000.
In addition to the troops, there were other Goans too. There were about 500 adherents, mostly of Goan origin, under the filial chapel of St Anne’s at Solapur Bazaar. They worked for British officers residing in the Pune cantonment area. This Goan community was ministered to by the priest from the City Chapel.
In 1887, the Poona Diocese was formed at St Patrick’s Cathedral under Propaganda Fide. The City Church and St Anne’s Chapel, which were originally under the Padroado system of the Archbishop of Goa and its Goan parishioners, now became part of the newly created Poona Bishop’s flock.
This created strong resentment among the Goan parishioners. Finally, a settlement was reached and the Immaculate Conception Church continued to remain under the jurisdiction of the Goa Archbishop. However, St Anne’s Chapel was transferred to the Bishop of Poona.
The Annuario (annual statistics) of 1907 of the Goa Archdiocese notes a Catholic population of 2,500 souls and one Missionary Vicar and one Co-Adjutor. The parochial school was established in 1887 and was named Ornellas, after the name of the Goan Archbishop who funded this school.
In 1952, the Church was expanded and the extension was designed by the late W X Mascarenhas, Chief Engineer, Government of Maharashtra, and was supervised by the late C J Pinto, a reputed civil contractor from Pune.
Until 1953, priests at City Church were deputed from Goa and all parish records were in Portuguese. In 1953, however, all the Padroado Churches outside Goa were transferred to the respective local ordinary.
On December 8, 2017, a grand function was held to commemorate the 225th anniversary of the Church. Archbishop of Goa and Daman Archbishop (now Cardinal) Filipe Neri Ferrao, graced the occasion. The heirs to the Peshwa dynasty, Vinayakrao Peshwe, Mahendra Peshwe and Pushkar Peshwe, as well as Ashok Fadnavis, a descendent of Nana Fadnavis, were felicitated by the Archbishop.
