About Thomasine research Center (TRC)
TRC is situated at Chaama MST Bhavan, Thumboor in Thrissur District. It was inaugurated informally on 15 February 2018 by His Excellency George Madathikandam, the Bishop of Kothamangalam. The beginning of the TRC was seen as a growth out of the Department of Historical Research and Documentation, established by the Central Council of MST in April 2016. Fr James Kurikilamkatt was made the first director.
TRC was originally established at Deepti Mount, Melampara, near Bharananganam in Kottayam District of Kerala, India. Deepti Mount is the Headquarters of the Missionary Society of St Thomas the Apostle (MST). TRC was later shifted to Chaama MST Bhavan, Thumboor in Thrissur district, where it was officially inaugurated by Bishop Mar Pauly Kannookaden, the bishop of Irinjalakuda, on 22 February 2021. We remember with gratitude Rev. Fr Joseph Vazhuthanappally for his generosity in handing over the center at Thumboor which he had built with lots of toil and hardships.
Thomasine Research Center is an initiative of the Missionary Society of St Thomas the Apostle aimed at developing a Thomasine Spirituality for the Syro-Malabar Church and diffusing a Thomasine way of life in all strata of Church life. St Thomas the Apostle, the founder of the Church in India, was an apostle who had adopted a unique style in following Jesus. A man totally different from all the other apostles, he always kept his uniqueness alive and never had any inhibition in expressing himself in the company of the fellow apostles. The Church he established in India has been a receptacle of his unique personality and must today remain a witness to his life and spirituality. It can happen only if the faithful of the Church are fully conscious of the great spiritual patrimony handed down to them by their ancestors, who were proud of their Thomasine identity and of belonging to the Thomasine culture.
TRC aims to further our knowledge of the Apostle and disseminate it across all areas of Church life. To achieve this aim, it will facilitate research on the life, spirituality and mission of St Thomas and the early St Thomas Christians. The centre will plan programs to reach every Syro-Malabar parish and educate the faithful about the history and spirituality of the Church. It will also chalk out programs to make the Church more missionary-oriented.
TRC will remain as a historical and missiological resource centre for the Syro-Malabar Church. The centre places special emphasis on Thomasine apostolic spirituality, the history of St Thomas Christians, and the history and development of the Syro-Malabar Mission outside Kerala. It is also a resource centre for the Missionary Society of St Thomas the Apostle’s mission and vision. It aims to develop and disseminate a missionary spirituality for the Syro-Malabar Church, based on the apostolic spirituality of St Thomas the Apostle, the founder of the Church. It will also facilitate research on the person of the apostle Thomas and the history of his mission in India.
TRC will form a group of retreat preachers who will guide Thomasine mission retreats in the parishes and religious Institutes. It will also conduct guided pilgrimages (Thomasine pilgrimages) to ancient centres of Syrian Christian patrimony. Pilgrimages and mission tours will be conducted to various mission centres.
