The St. Mary, Queen of Peace Basilica, located in the Palayam/Cantonment area of the city of

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

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 ...

, is the first

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...

to be elevated to the rank of 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 ...

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

. It is the fifth basilica in Kerala. On 10 November 2008, at the St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Trivandrum,

Leonardo Sandri Leonardo Sandri (born 18 November 1943) is an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who has been a cardinal since November 2007 and vice dean of the College of Cardinals since January 2020. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Chu ...

, Papal representative and Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, announced the designation of the Queen of Peace Pro-Cathedral in Thiruvananthapuram as a

. Major Archbishop

Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Baselios Cleemis (born 15 June 1959) is the current major archbishop-catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was named to the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 November 2012. At the moment of hi ...

Catholicos Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient ...

dedicated the church as the St. Mary, Queen of Peace Basilica on 7 December 2008. Kerala Minister for Law, Sports and Youth Affairs

M. Vijayakumar M. Vijayakumar (born 5 October 1950), is an Indian politician who belongs to the CPI(M). He served as an MLA, minister, and Speaker in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. He has been on the State and Central Committee of CPI(M). As an MLA, he rep ...

presided over a meeting that followed.

History

The former Pompador Cinema Theatre in the Palayam area of Trivandrum was converted into a church, and consecrated on 11 March 1933. The enthronement of Archbishop Mar Ivanios took place in this pro-cathedral on the same day. The roof of the new church was made of tin sheets, therefore people called it the 'Tin Church' (Thakara Palli). In 1991 the 'Tin Church' was replaced with a new building; Archbishop

Benedict Mar Gregorios Benedict Mor Gregorios (1 February 1916 – 10 October 1994) was the second metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Life Gregorios or "Thangalathil Thirumeni" was born and raised in the Malankara Orthodox Church in Kalloo ...

dedicated this new church to St. Mary, Queen of Peace. The Church was renovated and blessed by Major Archbishop Cardinal

on 4 October 2019.St. Mary Queen of Peace Basilica
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References

Syro-Malankara Catholic church buildings Eastern Catholic churches in Thiruvananthapuram Eastern Catholic cathedrals in Kerala Basilica churches in Kerala {{India-EC-church-stub

History

See also

References