St. Andrew's Basilica (Arthunkal)

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St. Andrew's Basilica

The St. Andrew's Basilica ( English Basilica St. Andrew ) is a Roman Catholic church in Arthunkal in the southern Indian state of Kerala . The pilgrimage church belonging to the Diocese of Alleppey is dedicated to the Apostle Andreas and bears the title of a minor basilica . The church is known for the pilgrimage of Sebastian .

history

The choir of the basilica

The beginning of the Christian presence in Kerala with the various denominations today such as Roman Catholic and the Thomas Christians is dated to the period around the 7th century. After the arrival of the Portuguese in Kerala, Jesuit missionaries came to Arthunkal from 1530. With a ban on Christian conversion until 1560, it was difficult to establish a church. It was not until Gasper Pais, first vicar of Arthunkal, that Veera Kerala Varma, King of Cochin , gave permission to build a wooden church in 1581 . The second priest, Fr Giacomo Fenicio SJ, received permission from the king in 1602 to wall the church. In 1640 the church was rebuilt to face the coast. This structure was renewed in 1870 with a new facade and a bell tower.

In 1900, construction of today's cruciform granite church began almost in the western connection. The church with its two-tower facade was blessed in 1967 after the long construction period of 60 years. In recognition of its historical importance, it was raised to the rank of minor basilica on May 21, 2010. The honor took place in the context of a pontifical ministry on October 1, 2010 under the direction of Salvatore Pennacchio , Apostolic Nuncio in India.

Pilgrimage

Arthunkal became famous when the miraculous, arrow-pierced statue of the martyr Sebastian came from Italy in 1647. People of all faiths affected by epidemics prayed to St. Sebastian and were healed. A pilgrimage for people of all faiths developed for his feast in January .

As part of the annual celebrations from January 10th to 27th, the great procession with the statue of Saint Sebastian takes place on January 20th as the main event of the festival.

Web links

Commons : Basilica of St. Andreas  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ St. Andrew's Basilica at gcatholic.org
  2. ↑ a b c Basilica of Arthunkal
  3. ^ Arthunkal church declared basilica. In: The Hindu. October 12, 2010

Coordinates: 9 ° 39 ′ 40 ″  N , 76 ° 18 ′ 1.4 ″  E