Friday, December 19, 2008

Christianity in India

While in Pondicherry we visited several churches. Like churches around the world, they too were preparing for Christ's birth. In the 1st century AD, St. Thomas ("Doubting Thomas") arrived in Kerala and set up seven churches and then traveled to southeastern India and continued to spread the Gospel. It was in Chennai where he was martyred and now buried within St. Thome Basilica. When the Portuguese arrived after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route to India, they continued spreading the Christian faith. The cherished Mother Theresa was one such visitor, making India her home. Today India is home to over 25 million Christians - about the entire population of Australia! Over 3/4 of India's Christians (accounting for about 2.3% of the total Indian population) live in southern India.

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