If a person has no familiarity with India, then that person might be surprised at the range of Christian communities in south India.

One morning, Annamalai drives me to St. Thomas Christian sites. Here is a quiz: How many, and where, do some Christians believe the Apostles’ relics exist? The answer is three. The sites are St. Peter’s in Rome (Peter), Santiago de Compostela (James the elder), and Chennai, India (Thomas). Legend has it that Thomas traveled to India. After evangelizing, he was murdered by Hindus outside Chennai.

On a small “mount”, there is a church, a tomb, and a room for his relics. Besides his relics, there are legendary relics from another one hundred saints, and relics from Bethlehem and Jerusalem’s Golgotha. As I learned on my walks, Roman Catholics in particular attribute a power to these relics as as they function as a “doorway” into the sacred. The relic allows a concentrated gaze into the story and the broader story in a way that pure reading a story may not. Certainly, family resemblances to a basic view held by many Hindus!

Historically, a separate St Thomas church influenced by Syriac Christianity, takes shape in India. At times, this church uses both eastern and western liturgical traditions. When the Roman Catholic Portuguese enter India, the St Thomas tradition fragmented, some aligning with Catholicism, some remaining more as a separate Orthodox tradition. A footnote: Although there is an Atlanta St Thomas church, I could never make connection with the priest to discover their particular tradition. A mystery remains.

In time, the Roman Catholic Portuguese took control over this site.  Even when it became part of the British Raj, the site remained Roman Catholic. In 1986, Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa visited the site.

Later on, my whirlwind travels through South India, I visit Christ Church in Tanjore. I felt as though I could be in a Church of England church in London. The formers of this church certainly wanted to be reminded of home!