On December 11, 2020, the church of our parish in Varapuzha, belonging to the Province of St. Pius X of Manjummel, was declared a Minor Basilica by the Holy See. The news was communicated to our Provincial, Fr. Thomas Marottikaparambil, OCD, on January 28th of this year.
A celebration is anticipated for the public declaration on March 13 and Mons. Joseph Kalathiparambil, Archbishop of Verápoli, will preside.
Varapuzha is in the periphery of the city of Kochi, which belongs to the Indian state of Kerala. Our presence there dates to the year 1673 and the community is formed currently by five brothers. The first Carmelite missionaries who arrived there called Varapuzha “the little Rome of the Orient.”
The patron saint of the parish is St. Joseph. The “Carmelite Welfare Center,” founded on August 15, 1974, is attached to the parish. This social assistance center serves women from poor families in the region. Since its foundation, the CWC has supported an enormous number of families offering work and stable salaries to women who are received by the center and who work in sewing.
At this time as we congratulate the Manjummel Province, we also pray for the presence of Teresian Carmel in India and we hope that this declaration will be spiritually fruitful.
