The whole village is named after St. Joseph, the Patron of our Parish Church. Hence, the village is known as Sao Jose de Areal, which may mean Area of St. Joseph. The village had a chapel which was affiliated to the Church of Curtorim. The Chapel was later rebuilt to cater to the growing Catholic community. On September 26^th 1826 it was elevated to a Church. The community was pre-dominantly Catholic. The feast of our Patron, St. Joseph is celebrated on the fourth Sunday of October, every year.

Currently, Fr. Damaciano Carvalho is the Parish Priest of St. Joseph Church and Fr. Movin Menezes is the Assitant to the Parish Priest. The Parish also has a Convent of Bethany Sisters, who run the Bethany Convent High School.

The village has two chapels, without any resident priests. The Chapel along the Margao-Quepem road is St. Francis Xavier Chapel, Padribhatt and the one which is slightly interior from Davorlim road is Holy Cross Chapel, Mugalli.  

The Parish is divided into fourty-four communities for the sake of administration and participation and each community is named after a Saint.