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The largest single Christian denomination in India is Roman Catholic. A Christian Church was founded in India by St. Thomas (1st century AD). It was a relatively small part of the Indian religious ,ilieu. It became separated from the Wesrern or Roman Church and became part of the Eastern Church. Vasco de Gana finally rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reestablished dorect European contact with India (1498). Portuguese Jesuits founded Catholic churches which they reached India (late-15th century). The Jesuits also attempted to change the liturgy and doctrine of the existing Christian churches. Christianity followed conquest, but was not limited to the areas of Portuguese control. Christian communities were formed in the south of the sub-continent as far as Madras on the east coast, and Dam�o on the west. Limited efforts were made to spread Christianity further northwards, as far as Bengal, Agra, and even Tibet. Large-scale conversions, however occurred primarily in Gao and other areas under Portuguese control. The Portuguese were followed by the Spanish and French. Eventually the English and Dutch arrived, introducing competing Anglicabn and Protestant churches to Indian Christianity. The 2001 Indian Census reported there are about 12 million Catholics in India. The make up of Indian Catholics is quite complicated. There are also Eastern rite churches associated with the Catholic church, including the Syro-Malankara Church and the larger Syro-Malabar Church. Pope John Paul II raised the Syro-Malabar Church (1993) and the Syro-Malankara Church (2005) to the status of major archiepiscopal churches. The Syro-Malabar Church as of 2005 was the second largest among 22 Eastern Catholic Churches which accepted the Pope as the "visible head of the whole church".
The largest single Christian denomination in India is Roman Catholic. The 2001 Indian Census reported there are about 12 million Catholics in India. This include the churches that have recognized papal authority while reetaining Eastern Rites.
A Christian Church was founded in India by St. Thomas (1st century AD). It was a relatively small part of the Indian religious ,ilieu. It became separated from the Western Church long before the Great Scism (11th century AD). The Thomasine Church became loosely associated with the Eastern Church, but was very small. We are not sure to what extent contact was maintained over more than a millenium and enormous political change in the Middle Wast and India iyself. Vasco de Gana finally rounded the Cape of Good Hope and reestablished dorect European contact with India (1498). Portuguese Jesuits founded Catholic churches which they reached India (late-15th century). The Jesuits also attempted to change the liturgy and doctrine of the existing Christian churches. Christianity followed conquest, but was not limited to the areas of Portuguese control. Christian communities were formed in the south of the sub-continent as far as Madras on the east coast, and Dam�o on the west. Limited efforts were made to spread Christianity further northwards, as far as Bengal, Agra, and even Tibet. Large-scale conversions, however occurred primarily in Gao and other areas under Portuguese control. The Portuguese were followed by the Spanish and French, both still Catholics devoted to the Roman Church. Eventually the English and Dutch arrived, introducing competing Anglican and Protestant churches to Indian Christianity. The English unlike the Spanish and French, commited a great dealmof religious freedom.
The make up of Indian Catholics is quite complicated. There are also Eastern rite churches associated with the Roman Catholic church. Chritians constitute a very small part of the population of India. Thus the Christian trend for division based on doctrianal or leadership issues reversed by fear of being such a small part of the overall Indian religious community. The same dynamic operated within the Protestant community. The Eastern rites churches joining the Roman Catholic churches include the Syro-Malankara Church and the larger Syro-Malabar Church. Differences with the Eastern rites leader more than doctrine affected this shift. Pope John Paul II raised the Syro-Malabar Church (1993) and the Syro-Malankara Church (2005) to the status of major archiepiscopal churches. The Syro-Malabar Church as of 2005 was the second largest among 22 Eastern Catholic Churches which accepted the Pope as the "visible head of the whole church". As part of the arrangement, the Vatican approved allowing these churches to continue using Eastern rites.
The Christian liturgy in India is varied even within the adherents to the Roman Catholic Church. Indian Catholics primarily celebrate the mass according the Roman rite. Usually the altar boys wear cassocks and surplices with bare feet. Celebrants remove their shoes before entering churches. This is a common practice in India. presumably adopted from Hindu and Muslim practice. As the Indian Catholic Church includes churches like the Syro-Malankara Church and the larger Syro-Malabar Church, there are also masses using the Easrern rites. Many churches offer services using different rites to attend to the relgious preferences of a diverse body of communicants. We believe that the same priests may conduct these varied services, but are not yet sure about this.
There is a strong traditioin of altar boys in India within the Catholic Church. Pope Paul VI made a point of meeting with them when he visited India (1964). One Indian source writes, " The altar server occupies a privileged place in all liturgical celebrations. As Pope St. John Paul II told the altar servers some years ago, in the liturgy, they are 'much more than simple helpers of the parish priest.' They are ''servers of Jesus Christ, of the eternal High Priest.'' They are, in a special way, the young friends of Jesus." Many churches in India celebrate altar boy day. In recent years we have begun to see references to Alter Servers rather than altar boys. This is because a few churches now have altar girls. This is a change much more prevalent in Weestern churches. As far as we can tell the traditioin of altar boys continues to be the tractive in most Catholic churches. We notice an Alter Service camp (2016) organized as by the Salesian Society in Chennai Province. In India usually the altar boys serve in bare feet both in eastern rites and in the Roman rites. Sometime the altar boys are barefoot also in outdoor activities.
Often all the people in the church are barefoot. In India usually this is the norm in the holy places of all religions which of couese was the convention followed millenia before Christiznity arrived in India. Some scholars of phenomenology of the religion think that in some traditions this element could come from an ritual nudity. WEE see bare feet commonly ibn other relhgious observtion in India. Now the nudity is practiced only by some groups of Hindu and Jain monks. In some religions the bare feet were introduced directly from other traditions. This is the case of Judaism in the temple of Jerusalem, Christianity (in India, in the Coptic and Ethiopic churches) and Islam.
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