All Saints Syro Malabar Church

All Saints Church, Vithura Malayalam: സകല വിശുദ്ധർ പള്ളി
220px All saints Syro Malabar Church Vithura Front View
Basic information
Location	Koppam, Vithura, India
Geographic coordinates
Affiliation	Eastern Catholic
Rite	Syro Malabar
District	Thiruvananthapuram
Year consecrated	1987
Architectural description
Completed	1987
Specifications
Height (max)	12.5 m
Materials	Brick

All Saints Syro Malabar Church is an Eastern Catholic church belonging to Syro Malabar rite, one of the twenty two Sui iuris eastern rites of the Roman Catholic church. It is located in Koppam Vithura, India. Administratively it comes under the Archdiocese of Changanassery.

History

Syrian Christians in Vithura

The presence of Syrian Christians in Vithura started when a Jacobite family bought property in 1925. With the establishment of Lakshmi Estate Plantation belonging to the Archieparchy of Tiruvalla, Syrian Christians started arriving as the plantation management staff in Vithura. In the years that followed Syro Malabar Syrian Christian families like Thevarkad, Aayiravelil, Kalappurakkal, Vachaparambil bought land in and around Vithura and started rubber plantations. Members of these families used to attend mass at a makeshift church en route to Peppara where missionary priests from Belgium working in Trivandrum conducted mass for laity belonging to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Quilon. In 1928 the Divine Provindence Latin Catholic church was established in Theviod near Vithura and it became the spiritual center of all catholic families in Vithura. Today this church comes under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Neyyattinkara. In 1980 the Kottayam Diocese of Knanaya Christians established a church in Thottumukku (Ponpara Estate), near Vithura and all Syro Malabar families joined that parish.

C.M.I. Leadership

A wealthy landlady Kalappurakkal Thressiyama donated 100 acres of land near Vithura to the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (C.M.I.) for the upkeep of her hospital in Payippad near Changanassery. The C.M.I. priests who thus came to Vithura persuaded the Syro Malabar families to buy land for building a church. A committee was formed under the leadership of George Valiyaveettil, Neelikatt Varkey, Joychan Vazhakkad, Jacob Cherupushpam and Joseph Mannampallil resulting in the purchase of land in Koppam in 1985. A makeshift church was built here and the holy mass was conducted by the C.M.I. priest every Sunday.

Present church

The present church was built by the C.M.I. order St Joseph province Trivandrum and was consecrated by Arch Bishop Mar Joseph Powathil on March – 28-1987. A cellular cemetery was built in 1988 and the parish hall in 1995. The Friday following Easter is the feast day of all saints and is hence celebrated as the feast day of the church.

Parish vicars

Year	Head	Order
1985–1987	Fr. Titus Chempunthara	C.M.I.
1987–1989	Fr. Valerius Thazhathil	C.M.I.
1989–1991	Fr. Alexander Koolippurakkal	C.M.I.
1991–1998	Fr. Joseph Poovathussery
1998–2001	Fr Demenius Kocheril
2001–2002	Fr. Roy Kalayil
2002–2004	Fr. Thomas Paulos Parakkal (Tejas)
2004–2007	Fr. James Kalayamkandamattom
2007–2009	Fr. Thomas Plathottam
2009–2012	Fr. Philip Kanjikkal
2012–2013	Fr. Sebastian Kurinjipparambil