The house of the Society of St Paul, Bangalore, is situated opposite HMT Layout, Nagasandra, about 18 KM to the north of Bangalore Central (Majestic) Railway Station.  

The first Paulines who came to India were Fr Dominic Michael Ambrosio (1902-1971) and Fr Guido Giacomo Paganini (1910-1994). They reached Delhi in 1935 and tried to open a house. Because of various difficulties, they returned. In 1937 Fr Alfonso Ferrero (1909-1996) and Br Bernardino Ruffoli (1908-19950) were sent to India. His grace Angelo Poli bishop of Allahabad invited them to his Diocese. Thus in 1939 the mass media apostolate began to take root in our motherland. 

In 1951, Fr A Ferrero moved to Bombay where he got a warm welcome from Archbishop Valerian Gracias (later Cardinal) and opened a house in 1953. In 1960, Fr Tempra was sent to Delhi to start a house and after establishing a community there, he went to USA to raise funds to begin a formation house in South India. Fr Tempra could hardly speak English. However, his love for the mission enabled him to accept the challenge, and he returned from USA with considerable funds. 

In 1966, Fr A Ferrero entrusted Fr Tempra with the task of establishing a formation house in South India.  With his ardent love for mission and with the guidance of the Spirit he reached Bangalore. He stayed in St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary and went around looking for a place. He selected Chokkasandra, which is in Nagasandra (Nagasandra means a place of snakes, especially cobras) as a suitable place because of its quietness and greenery. Mr Narayan Rao, Panchayat president of Chokkasandra, helped Fr Tempra to buy 33 acres of land on a hill. The vast area was acquired with an intention of building a Pauline City (formation houses for SSP, PDDM and DSP) there. Later on, for various reason the plan did not materialise. Since the land was in the green belt area, the pioneers struggled for two years to get permission for converting 15 acres of the land.

Br Basil Chennamkulam was sent to assist Fr Gabriel. They built a small farmhouse and  celebrated the first Christmas along with two sisters from DSP.

Bangalore-Karnataka

On 25 December 1968 his Grace Archbishop Lourdswamy (Later Cardinal) laid the foundation of the house of Bangalore.

The famous Contractor Thirathuram Auja from Delhi had just built St John’s Medical College and St Matha’s Hospital in Bangalore. Mr Auja built the first block of the building. Fr Gabriel Colasanto supervised the construction work and he named the place ‘St Paul’s Hill.’

On 30 June 1970 his grace Archbishop Lourdswamy blessed the first wing of the building. The novitiate was shifted from Allahabad to Bangalore and began functioning here. Fr Stephen Pullan was appointed as Novice Master and Fr Gabriel as Superior. Br Tarcitius dung dung, Br Vincent Minj and 14 others made up the first batch of novices.  The following year Br Basil recruited 18 boys from Kerala and began the first batch of Aspirancy. Later on Br Thomas Cornelio, Br Pancratius Tirkey, Fr Vincent Gnarakkatt and Fr Joe Narivelil joined the community.

In 1971, a printing press was started with hand composing and a linotype. Mr Pais, manager of ATC and NBCLC were the first clients to give books for printing. In 1973, Sr Dorothi and Sr Auxilia PDDM came to the community and looked after the chapel and the kitchen. They also took care of the sick members. Fr Gabriel went to USA, and with the funds he collected built the refectory and extended the building. Later on Fr Gabriel returned to Italy due to ill health. Fr Stephen was appointed the superior. 

The pioneers had to face many challenges: unfamiliar place, people, language, culture, and climate. They overcame all these hurdles and built the community by their hard work. They spent long hours toiling in the land and produced enough to sustain the community. The present HMT colony across the road was then a plain land used for cultivating ragi. Br Basil and Br Pancratius Tirkey used to go around in the village with our tractor to till land to generate some additional income for the community.

It was from here that the Pauline tree branched out to other South Indian Cities like Kochi and Chennai. The mighty building, garden and many fruit trees that we see now in the campus are the fruit of committed work by our senior members. Now it is our responsibility to foster and protect the richness of the ‘St Paul’s Hill.’