A church consecrated Saint Chavara (St. Chavara Kuriakose Elias) in Madagascar! We may be surprised to hear that. It is also a testament to the fact that the rays of the holiness of Father Chavara, who was elevated to the rank of the saint from Kerala, shone all over the world. It is a matter of pride for any Keralite that a church named after Father Chavara has been built on an African mission area. Below is a note is written by Fr. Johnson Thaliyath CMI about St. Chavara Church, Ankiliabo.
There were no Christian communities when I reached the village in 1998. In the jubilee year of 2000, 84 people were baptized and laid the foundation of a Christian community at the temple of Ankiliabo. Having gone through a great financial crisis, we were in a dilemma that how to help the Catholic community ardently waiting there to unite in Jesus. A church was the clamant basic need for the Christians for their worship. That is when the Malayalee brothers in the Diocese of Chicago in the United States extended a helping hand to disseminate the Gospel there. The collaboration of Bishop Jacob Angadiyath and Bishop Joy Alappat has given a great hope out of the blue.
This church sees the first church in Africa named after Saint Chavara on the occasion of the 150th death anniversary of the saint.
Fr. Johnson Thaliyath CMI