Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Madras (Agenzia Fides) – Saint Thomas the Apostle, the one who first brought the seeds of the Gospel to the Indian subcontinent, will be the main character in an upcoming film being put out by the Catholic Church in India and produced by the growing Indian cinematography industry. In 42-72 AD, Saint Thomas was lead to evangelize the people of the East. In fact, the Christians from Iraq to India define themselves as the “children of Saint Thomas.”
After having brought the Christian message to the people of the Middle East, Saint Thomas went to India (the Malabar zone, modern-day Kerala) to peoples who received the Gospel with joy and enthusiasm. The Apostle was killed by a spear in Calamina (modern-day Mylapore, on the outskirts of Madras) around 68-72 AD. From the Apostle’s preaching was begun the Syro-Malabar Church, which has grown immensely in southwestern India (see the Fides Dossier “The Churches of St. Thomas the Apostle” of November 2002).
Today, convinced of the fact that the evangelization effort in the third millenium should take place as well through the mass media, including the cinema, the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore has announced its initiative to plan, produce, and carry out the making of a film on Saint Thomas. The local Archbishop Malayappan Chinappa (a Salesian), has presented the project to the Bishops of Kerala and those of Tamil Nadu, who have expressed their support for the idea. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are precisely the lands where Saint Thomas preached and was later martyred.
The project has also received support from civil authorities and will be officially released on July 3, feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, in the Basilica of Saint Thomas in Chennai. The planned budget for the film is an estimated 300 million rupee (nearly 10 million dollars), thus showing itself to be a blockbuster hit in the cinema industry in the subcontinent. The film, which is planned to be out in theaters in 2009, will be filmed in Tamil and later dubbed into Malayalam and Hindi and later into English, French, and other languages.
“We hope that a film on the life of St. Thomas can offer spiritual consolation for people of all walks and of all men’s equal dignity before God,” said the Archbishop, the project’s promoter.
The idea of the film comes from the conviction that the mass media is crucial instrument for the Catholic Church in India. Observing the great technological advancements, the Church has been encouraged to make more headway in this field, that plays a determining role in social, political, and religious matters, and in forming public opinion. Thus, the Bishops have planned for the Church in India to develop a strategy for communications, encouraging the faithful to take an active role in the new means of spreading the Good News (cf. Message: “Called to be Church that Communicates,” in Fides 17/11/2004). The Church is convinced that the mass media can build peace, promoting the values of tolerance and reconciliation. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 19/06/2008)
