St. Joseph's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is situated in

Meenkunnam Meenkunnam is a village with waterfalls, rocky terrains, small hills, and paddy fields. It is located within Arakuzha and Marady Panchayat, Kerala. The local community heavily rely on farming and forms an agrarian-based economy. Most of the in ...

village, 6 km from

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipalityhttps://lsgkerala.gov.in/system/files/2017-10/localbodies.pdf in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located east of the district headquarters in Thrikkakara and a ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was founded by

Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...

Mar Varghese Payyappilly Palakkappilly Varghese Payyappilly was an Indian Syro-Malabar priest from Kerala and the founder of the congregation of Sisters of the Destitute. He was declared Venerable by Pope Francis on 14 April 2018. Family Kathanar was born as Kunjuvaru on 8 August ...

in 1921.Payyappilly Palakkappilly Varghese Kathanar
The church belongs to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Kothamangalam.

History

Meenkunnam village has a large population of

Syrian Catholics The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' (self-governing) particular church that is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Catholic Church. Originating in the Levant, it uses the West Syriac R ...

. These Nasrani Christians, who were previously under Marth Mariam Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church, Arakuzha, have more than 1500 years of recorded history. A main landmark of Meenkunnam is a copy of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Pietà The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Mary (mother of Jesus), Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. ...

, which was created by the artist Appukuttan. This sculpture at Meenkunnam is roughly 4 times the size of the original

, located at the

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

. Owing to its size, the artist could make a compromise on intricate details and created a sculpture lacking realism, ideal beauty, harmony and balance observed in the original sculpture which showcases a balance of Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph's Syro-Malabar Church, Meenkunnam Syro-Malabar Catholic church buildings Churches in Ernakulam district 1921 establishments in India Christian organizations established in 1921 Eastern Catholic churches in Kerala Churches completed in 1925