Oriental Catholics in India say they are pleased that Pope Benedict XVI has ammended a remark suggesting that Saint Thomas the Apostle had not reached their base, the southern Indian state of Kerala.
"We are happy that the pope corrected his statement," Father Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of Syro-Malabar Church (SMC), told UCA News Nov. 28. The Vatican has "shown the sensitivity and magnanimity to correct the mistake," he added.
In a speech delivered during his Sept. 27 Wednesday audience, the pope cited ancient tradition in saying that Saint Thomas evangelized Syria and Persia, and then went on to western India, "from where Christianity also reached southern India."
The remark created an uproar in Kerala, the base of both Oriental Catholic rites native to India -- the SMC and the smaller Syro-Malankara Church. These two Oriental rites along with five other Christian groups based in Kerala trace their faith to Saint Thomas, who they say landed in Malabar, the state's coastal region, in 52 A.D. and baptized their ancestors. Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala capital, is 2,815 kilometers south of New Delhi.
As laypeople and Church officials expressed displeasure with the papal remark, a corrected version appeared on the Vatican website.
RSS