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The Communist party-led government in southern Kerala state has declared a public holiday today Friday on the occasion of the beginning of the three-day Jubilee 2000 Eucharistic Congress.
Apart from ordering the closure of all educational institutions, the Communist government announced on Thursday postponement of all public examinations scheduled for today as thousands of Catholics representing 26 dioceses in the state were to gather in the capital city of Kochi for the Eucharistic Congress to mark the conclusion of the Jubilee 2000 celebrations organized by Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC).
The soccer field of St. Albert's School in the heart of the city has been converted into a temporary hall that can seat 30,000 people during the three-day Congress that will conclude on Sunday with a public meeting presided over by Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, apostolic nuncio in India.
With the largest concentration
of Christians in India, the majority of Christians in Kerala trace their
faith to St. Thomas the Apostle who landed in Kerala on the Arabian Sea
coast in 52 AD. The autonomous 3.3 million-strong Syro-Malabar rite based
in Kerala is one of the most vibrant rites in the Catholic Church with
a nun or a priest for every 50 Catholics.
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