Ernakulam (Fides Service) - The Church in India organised a National Celebration of the Jubilee year of St Thomas and St Francis which culminated on Sunday November 17 with a solemn concelebration of the Eucharist in the open air at Marina Drive ground, presided by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, Papal Envoy for the occasion. Concelebrating with him were Cardinal Dias, Archbishop of Bombay and Cardinal Vithayathil Archbishop Major of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malbar Church, other bishops and clergy representing the different dioceses. In his homily, the Cardinal outlined the life of these two evangelisers: "At different points of its history, this land of ancient cultures and deep religious values opened its heart to these two Apostles from distant lands. These two figures were the instruments chosen by God to preach the Kingdom of God, to teach the people in India about the love of God and the love of neighbour…The faith that you have received through the two giants, St. Thomas and St. Francis, has to be read and lived anew, keeping of course intact its original meaning, and sharing vividly the Christ-experience they lived so admirably, so that the present generation comes to know Christ more deeply, as Thomas and Francis did, so that they too can say with the same conviction "my Lord and my God". In the afternoon there was a public gathering to which Cardinal Sepe carried a Papal Message. The Jubilee programmes included a History Seminar 15 and 16 November on the origin and growth of Christianity in India, and the influence of Christianity in the transformation of Indian Society, the Contribution of the Church i Building up the nation. See homily in English at www.fides.org. (Fides Service 18/11/2002)