St. Thomas Malankara Catholic Church, Chennai
Brief History of the Parish:-
The Malayalee Christian group of Padi formed a congregation in 1966 in the name of St. George. This group organized prayer meetings and Christmas Carols. Majority of the St. George group was Orthodox Christians. Several times they approached their church authorities for a church in Padi. But for their dismay, it was not accepted by the authorities. Some members of this group approached the Archbishop of Trivandrum, His grace Benedict Mar Gregorios. The Bishop expressed his doubts, about the success of the venture, as he would foresee the hurdles that were there to start a Malankara Parish outside Kerala.
On 9th February 1974, His Grace Most. Rev. Benedict Mar Gregorios along with His Grace Most Rev. R. Arulappa, Arch Bishop of Madras-Mylapore came to Mannoorpet (Ambathoor Industrial Estate) Catholic Church. A lot of Orthodox and Malankara Catholics welcomed both dignitaries and requested to have a parish of Malankara Catholic Church. Dr. Arulappa Thirumeni readily agreed to appoint a Malankara Catholic Priest, to attend the spititual needs of the faithful.
Rev. Fr. Samuel Pallivathukal & Rev. Fr. Samuel Edamannil were send to attend the spiritual needs of the newly formed Malankara group for a temporary period. On March 1974, Rev. Fr. George Jacob Kizhakethil was appointed as the first Vicar of the Parish. Along with him, the faithful searched to get a place for establishing a parish, finally they came to the place were the church now exists and laid the foundation stone. Mission centers were established at Thiruvottiyoor on 21st April 1977 and Perambur on 2nd April 1978.
A new church has to be constructed for the needs of the people and the work started on Thursday 27th April 1978; in the following year exactly on 8th May the blessing of the newly built church took place by Most. Rev. Dr. Benedict Mar Gregorios in the presence of Most Rev. Paulose Mar Philexinos and Msgr. C. T. Kuruvila, a number of Priests, Nuns and faithful participated in the function.
Rev. Fr. Koshy varghese (Most Rev. Joshua Mar Ignathios) took charge as the Assistant Vicar and the Principal of the school on 8th June 1982 later he became the Parish Priest. Rev Fr.George Charuvilla took charge as the vicar of the parish on 1996.During his period, the 25th anniversary of this parish & School was celebrated in the year 1999. Rev.Fr Jose Chamakalayil took charge as the vicar of the parish on 25th May 2000. Separate mass timing for the Tamil speaking people of Malankara Catholic (Marthandam Diocese) has been set and catechism classes in Tamil was also arranged... A new plot for the church was purchased at Ayappakkam, Chennai. On June 2007, Rev Fr.George Puthenvilayil took charge as vicar for a period of one year. On May 2008, Rev.Fr Johnson Parackal took charge as the vicar of this parish. The 8th MCC ETRI MCYM convention was also held in Chennai on October 26th to 28th in a grand manner.
Present Status of the Parish:
a. Total no. of Families: -
b. Total no. of Members: -
c. Prayer Meetings: - 5 Groups
d. Parish association: - Catechism, MCYM, MCA Mathrusamajam
e. Parish Status: - Personal Parish
Holy Qurbono Timings:
Parish Priest:
Fr. Johnson Parackal
St. Thomas Malankara Catholic Church,
Maria Nagar, Padi,
Chennai- 600 050. Tamilnadu.
Phone: 09444155559, 044-26357795
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Parish Address:
St. Thomas Malankara Catholic Church,
Maria Nagar, Padi,
Chennai- 600 050. Tamilnadu.
Parish Telephone Nos. : 044-26357795