St. Mary's Co-Cathedral is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in Armenian Street,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Constructed by

Capuchins Capuchin can refer to: *Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, an order of Roman Catholic friars *Capuchin Poor Clares, an order of Roman Catholic contemplative religious sisters *Capuchin monkey, primates of the genus ''Cebus'' and ''Sapajus'', named af ...

in 1658, it is one of the oldest churches in the former

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. For a long time Cathedral of the diocese it received the title of co-cathedral when the seat of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madras and Mylapore/Madras and Myliapor ( la, Madraspolitan(us) et Meliaporen(sis)) is an archdiocese based in the city of Madras (now ''Chennai''), in India. It took also the name of the ancient diocese of My ...

was transferred to

San Thome Basilica San Thome Church, officially known as St Thomas Cathedral Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Thomas, is a minor basilica of the Catholic Church in India, at the Santhome neighbourhood of Madras (Chennai), in Tamil Nadu. The present structure d ...

History

According to records, the church was constructed by a French Capuchin Father

Ephrem de Nevers Ephrem de Nevers (between 1607 and 1610 - 13 October 1695) was a native of Nevers, France. He was a Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, Capuchin Franciscan priest and the first Christian missionary in Madras (Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. De Nevers fou ...

, the First Missionary of Madras who put up "the open pandall chappell" in Armenian Street in 1658.Muthiah, pp 331–332 The structure, however, did not survive for long and had to be reconstructed in 1692. The church was renovated in 1775 and 1785 and promoted to the status of the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

of the Ecclesiastical Province of Madras in 1886. When, in 1952, the ecclesiastical provinces of Madras and Mylapore were merged to form the

with the

as the headquarters, St. Mary's was given the status of a co-cathedral.

Notes

References

* Roman Catholic churches in Tamil Nadu Roman Catholic churches in Chennai Religious buildings and structures completed in 1658 1658 establishments in the British Empire Roman Catholic cathedrals in Tamil Nadu {{India-RC-church-stub

History

See also

Notes

References