PTI
 
Kochi, Nov 23: Controversy is raging in the christian community in Kerala following recent remarks by Pope Benedict XVI that St Thomas, had preached christianity in “Western” India, from where it spread to other parts of the country, fuelling a debate whether or not the Apostle had come to Southern India.

The community in Kerala believes that St Thomas came to this part in AD 52 and had established seven and half churches. The community considers St Thomas as the ‘Father in Faith’ of Christians in India.

The present Pope had in a pronouncement at the St Peter’s square in Vatican recently had spoken of St Thomas, the Apostle, seemingly taking away from him the traditional title ‘Apostle of India’.

Though he did not actually use the expression ‘Apostle of Pakistan’, what he said may seem to imply it, says an article by George Nedungatt, a faculty member of the Oriental Pontifical Institute, Rome, in “Satya Deepam”, a mouthpiece of the Syro-Malabar church.

The article says the Pope’s predecessors had on several occasions referred to St Thomas as the Apostle of India. However, differing from this view, Pope Benedict feels the area St Thomas evangelised was not South India, but what he called “western India” corresponding roughly to today’s Pakistan.

The Pope, addressing a vast crowd at the St Peter’s square, is said to have stated “..... Thomas first evanglised Syria and Persia and then penetrated as far as western India from where christianity reached also south India”.