The Rise of Christianity

When the Portuguese arrived in Kerala to trade 500 years ago, they were more than a little surprised to find Christianity already established along the Malabar coast, and more than a little annoyed that these Christians had never heard of the Pope.

The Roman Catholic Church established its presence along with Portuguese traders. The St. Bartholomew Church  build in 1503 under Captain Alphonso Albuquerque in Cochin is India's oldest European church. It was built as a Roman Catholic Church. Its history reflects the influences by other Europeans who arrived after the Portuguese. The church was restored in 1779 by Dutch protestants and converted to Anglican by the British in 1795. When the British came to India and established their strongholds they ousted the other Europeans. Today the church is named "St. Francis" and belongs to The Church of South India.

St.Francis Church in Fort Kochi

Christian Missionaries arrived before the British. But only with the British, the official Church Mission Society (CMS) of the Anglican Church missionaries in large numbers arrived. Unlike missionaries before they also raised social issues and won many members amongst poor peasants. The first CMS missionary was Mr. Thomas Norton who established churches in Alleppey, Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Calicut. Catholics joined hands with the CMS missionaries as the British formed their rule over India. Only when British Colonialism came to an end after the 2nd World War, the Roman Catholics broke away from the CMS and re-launched their own organization in Kerala again. The CMS, which began as the missionary arm of the Anglican Church, today is organized into CSI (Church of South India) and the CNI (Church of North India) - both headed by the Anglican Bishop of Canterbury (England) quasi as an equivalent to the Pope. Both continue to win converts from other religions because of her their progressive stand on social issues. Members of the CSI make up most of the Christians in Kerala and India as a whole. 

The ancient Syrian Christians of what today is known as The Marthoma Church (headquartered at Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta) are much more conservative.

There is no clear historic evidence that St. Thomas actually was the one who brought Christianity to India. The oldest Christian Church still standing is found in Kodungallore, carved with Hindu-style columns, supposedly dated back to the 4th century. However there is clear evidence that the history of the Syrian Christians dates back to at least 190 A.D. when a visitor reported to have seen a Hebrew copy of the gospel of St. Matthew. 

The Syrian Christians firmly believe it was actually St. Thomas who brought Christianity to India. They built a Church at Payloor (near Trichur) to memorize the first ever preaching location of St. Thomas in Kerala.