The credit for being the oldest place of Christian worship in Bihar goes to the Roman Catholic Church, Padri Ki Haveli, located in the Khajekalan area of Patna City. This church facing south is 74 feet long, 40 feet wide, and 50 feet high. Its interior is in Corinthian style. This magnificent church with high Ionic pillars was designed by Sinyor Tirreto, a Venetian architect, and was built between 1772 and 1779 during the tenure of Reverend Father Joseph of Roveto.
The huge bell called ‘Maria’, which is still rung to call people to service, was once in the church’s bell tower. Bahadur Shah, son of King Prithvi Narayan of Nepal, gifted it to the church in 1782. The first Christian missionary to live in Patna was Father Simon Figuerdo, who lived here in 1620. Medical Mission Sisters from the USA opened the Holy Family Hospital here in 1939. Nobel laureate and Saint Mother Teresa stayed at this hospital for three months in 1948 to receive basic medical training.