Talk:Dioceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapur

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is some confusion in this article about the three sites in Chennai (formerly Madras) associated with the Apostle Thomas. The site of St. Thomas' death (incorrectly identified in this article) is known as St. Thomas Mount, and is the site of an originally Portuguese-built church from the 16th century. Santhome Basilica, identified in this article with the place of Thomas' death, was actually the site of his burial (his relics were removed to Chios and then Italy, where they remain today), as well as the site of an ancient Nestorian church. The place where St. Thomas lived, according to legend, during his local preaching career in Mylapore (a neighborhood in Chennai) is call the "small mountain" or Chinnamalai in Tamil. Thus, Chennai boasts three shrines directly associated with the life and death of St. Thomas, all of which have churches erected in his memory:

1. Chinnamalai - a cave where he lived and prayed 2. Saint Thomas Mount - the site of his martyrdom 3. Santhome Basilica (the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Chennai) - the site of his burial and resting place of his relics before they were moved to the West in the third century CE.

John G. Roberts III