St Andrew's Church, Kovilthottam is a historic colonial-era

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church that is located in the Panmana–

Chavara Chavara is a village in Karunagappally taluk, Kollam district, Kerala, India. It is a part of Kollam Lok Sabha constituency. The current MLA of the Chavara constituency is Dr. Sujith Vijayan Pillai of the LDF. Location and tourism Chavara ...

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical men ...

Karunagappalli Karunagappally is a municipality in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. It is 24 km north of Kollam and south of Alappuzha. Karunagappally taluk consists of Alappad, Ochira, Adinad, Karunagappally, Thazhava, Pavumba, Thodiyoor, Kall ...

taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

Kollam district Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 List of districts in Kerala, districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Lac ...

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. Masses are held in English and follow the Roman Rite liturgy.

History

It was established and first built in 1398. It was rebuilt in 1779 by the

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

missionary Father Yovakim de Santiago. The church is also a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, part of the Diocese of Quilon, established in the 14th century. The 1779 church was built in the Portuguese Colonial style, and dedicated to

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

. The church building was renovated in the 2000s, and subsequently consecrated by the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilon The Diocese of Quilon is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church based in the southern Indian city of Kollam. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Trivandr ...

Stanley Roman Stanley Roman (born 4 June 1941) is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Bishop of Quilon, India, from 2001 to 2018. He also chaired the education committee of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council. Biography Stanley Roman was born ...

in 2006.

Setting

Kovilthottam is a small coastal village and a port, between Chavara T.S. canal part of the

Kerala backwaters The Kerala backwaters are a network of brackish lagoons and canals lying parallel to the Arabian Sea of the Malabar coast of Kerala state in south-western India. It also includes interconnected lakes, rivers, and inlets, a labyrinthine system ...

and

Arabian sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

to its west, it is approachable from Chavara from the iron footbridge. The Church is a popular pilgrimage and tourist destination of

Former vicars

Rev. Fr. Yoachim D'santiago - 1770 Rev. Fr. Francis Alvaras - 1779 Rev. Fr. Louis Ker Netto - 1881 Rev. Fr. Mathai Nelluvelil Kathanar - (1881 - 1883) Rev. Fr. John Kathanar - (1883 - 1884) Rev. Fr. Michael Kathanar - (1884 - 1887) Rev. Fr. Thoma Kathanar - (1887 - 1899) Rev. Fr. John a. Netto - (1899 - 1901) Rev. Fr. Michael Jackson - (1901 - 1905) Rev. Fr. Joseph Peres - (1905 - 1910) Rev. Fr. M. David Fernandez - (1910 - 1911) Rev. Fr. Peter Morris - (1911) Rev. Fr. Francis Fernandez - (1911 - 1913) Rev. Fr. John A. Netto - (1914 - 1917) Rev. Fr. Leene B. Miranda - (1917 - 1919) Rev. Fr. George Karikuzhi - (1919) Rev. Fr. Bernard benjamine fernandez - (1919 - 1923) Rev. Fr. Simon s. gonzago - (1923 - 1933) Rev. Fr. Mark P. Fernandez - (1933 - 1934) Rev. Fr. Marceline Morris - (1934 - 1939) Rev. Fr. Bernard Benjamine Fernandez - (1939 - 1946) Rev. Fr. Valerian M. Fernandez - (1946 - 1956) Rev. Fr. Michael M. Netto - (1956 - 1968) Rev. Fr. Elias Varghese - (1968 - 1972) Rev. Fr. Christepher Morris - (1972 - 1984) Rev. Fr. Christy Daniel - (1984 - 1987) Rev. Fr. Joseph Morris - (1984 - 1987) Rev. Fr. K. J. Jesudas - (1987 - 1990) Rev. Fr. Andrew Eugene - (1990 - 1992) Rev. Fr. Sefernos Sebastian - (1992 - 1997) Rev. Fr. John G. Fernandez - (1997 - 1998) Rev. Fr. Hubert Fernandez - (1998 - 1999) Rev. Fr. Antony John - (1999 - 2003) Rev. Fr. Joseph Detto Fernandez - (2003) Rev. Fr. Dionysius C. Antony - (2003 - 2006) Rev. Fr. Milton G. - (2006 - 2008) Rev. Fr. Franklin Francis - (2008 - 2013) Rev. Fr. Arun J. Aradan- (2013 - 2014) Rev. Fr. Shani Francis - (2014 - 2017) ) Rev. Fr. Abel Lucious (2018- 2020) Rev. Fr. Milton George (2020- to present)

References

External links

Official St Andrew's Church, Kovilthottam website
1398 establishments in Asia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1398 Churches in Kollam district Colonial Kerala Franciscan churches in India Roman Catholic churches in Kerala Roman Catholic churches completed in 1779 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India Religious organizations established in the 1390s Portuguese in Kerala Portuguese colonial architecture in India 14th-century establishments in India 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in India {{India-RC-church-stub