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Christianity appeared in India from the earliest days of the founding of the religion.
The Apostlr St. Thomas brought Christianity to India. The historical record is sparse, but St Thomas is believed to have reached India (about 52 AD). He preached to Brahmin families on the west coast (Kerala) converting some. He founded churches and then moved to the east coat where he was martared near Madras.
There are reports of a Thomistic desicple on the north-west borders of Hindustan. There is a better substantiated belief in preaching among the Dravidian populations of the south. Here there is a Christian comminity that pre-dates the European imperial era. The early Christian impact on India, however, was minimal. Europeans reintroduced Christianity to India. Christians arrived at an early stage in the development of rhe religion, but had pnly limited impact. The first European to reach India was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1498). The Portuguese monopolized Indian trade (16th century). Other Europeans (Dutch, English, and French) competed (17th century) Finally as part of the 7 Years War, Britain emerged as the dominant colonial power (18th century). Moghul power disipated by dynastic and sectarian conflicts eased the path for Europeans The Europeans brought Christianity with them. Most of the major Protestant sects have adherents in India. There are also Catholic converts. Christians are only a small part of the Indian religious converts. I am unsure as the the social-class or regional make up of Indian Christians.
Christianity appeared in India from the earliest days of the founding of the religion. The Apostlr St. Thomas brought Christianity to India. The historical record is sparse, but St Thomas is believed to have reached India (about 52 AD). He preached to Brahmin families on the west coast (Kerala) converting some. He founded churches and then moved to the east coat where he was martared near Madras.
There are reports of a Thomistic desicple on the north-west borders of Hindustan. There is a better substantiated belief in preaching among the Dravidian populations of the south. Here there is a Christian community that pre-dates the European imperial era. The early Christian impact on India, however, was minimal.
Europeans reintroduced Christianity to India. Christians arrived at an early stage in the development of the religion, but had only limited impact. And after the Arab outburat and the establishment of the Caliphate, Europe and India were cut off. Exchanges were only possible through Aran intermediaries. European Christians reappered centuries later after Christisnity was well established in Europe. The first modern European to reach India was the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama (1498). The Portuguese monopolized Indian trade (16th century). Other Europeans (Dutch, English, and French) competed (17th century) Finally as part of the Seven Years War, Britain emerged as the dominant colonial power (18th century). Moghul power disipated by dynastic and sectarian conflicts eased the path for Europeans The Europeans brought Christianity with them. European missionaries played an important role in the development of modern India. Most of the major Protestant sects have adherents in India. There are also Catholic converts. Christians are only a small, but not unimportant part of the Indian religious converts.
Christianity in India is very diverse, made up of many different denominations. The denominational structure is complicated. There is no preicse accounting, but available data provides a reasonablly accurate overview. The largest single denomination is Roman Catholic. The 2001 Indian Census reported there are about 12 million Catholics. There are smaller number of Orthodox Christians organized in different denominations. The total of Protestants totals about the same mumber, bit are divided in many different denominations. The most important are the Church of South India, Baptist, Church of North India, Lutheran, Indian Brethern, and Seventh-Day Adventist. This reflects the importance of the British Raj and resulting missianry activity in the 19th century. The Church of South India, since independence in 1947, is a union of Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational, Methodist, and Anglican congregations and has nearly 4 million adherentts. There is a smaller Church of North India with over 1 million adherents. Both of these churches are part of the world-wide Anglican Communion. There are also Eastern rite churches associated with he Catholic church, including the Syro-Malankara Church and the larger Syro-Malabar Church. vPope John Paul II
raised the Syro-Malabar Church (1993) and the Syro-Malankara Church (2005) to the status of major archiepiscopal churches. The Syro-Malabar Church as of 2005 was the second largest among 22 Eastern Catholic Churches which accepted the Pope as the "visible head of the whole church".
I am unsure as the the social-class make up of Indian Christians.
The destribution of Christians in India is highly regional. Regional trends in the distribution of Christianity are in part due to the pattern of colonialism in India. This you have many Roman Catholics in Goa which was a long-term Portuguese colony. Chritianity grew in the northeast suring the late-19th century. This included the Seven Sister State where the Khasis, Mizos, and the Nagas showed great interest in Christianity. In modern India, Christiaity is strongest in the northeast and in the southwestern states (Kerala and Goa). The population of Kerala is about 15 percent Christian and Kerala about 15 percent. Through central India, the percentage of Christains is less than 1 percent, slightly higher along the eastern coast states. More than half of all Indian Christians live in Kerala and Tamil Nadu (south India) and Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya (northeast India).
The Christian Church in India is quite duverse. There are a number of Catholic and rekated denominaruins such as Orthodox and Anglican deniominations that have aktar boys assist with the mass and other celebrations. An altar boy is a juvenile serving as an acolyte. As far as we know, girls are not yet allowed to serve. There are quite a few Indian denominations. We do not know if any are considering the possibility of permitting girls to serve. The Indian churches tend to be more conservative than European churches where more than half the altar servers are now girls.
The altar boy assists a priest or minister in a liturgical service. Pope Paul VI left this message to altar boys when he visited India,"My dear children,
I am very happy to meet you all, especially the altar boys, and to tell you how much I love you, how often I pray for you, and how proud I am to be your Holy Father.
I have come from Rome to join you in adoring and loving Our blessed Lord in the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, Always have a warm and deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Visit Our Lord as often as you can. Receive Him frequently in Holy Communion. Ask Him to make you good, to make you holy, to make you ever more and more like Himself.
You altar boys are the closest ones to Jesus in the Tabernacle, when you serve the priest at Holy Mass. You must therefore be especially pure and good. I would ask you, and all the other boys and girls, to think seriously whether Our Lord is calling you to serve him by means of a vocation. Pray to Jesus to send many good workers into His harvest of souls, to bring men and women to know, love and serve Him here on earth, and to be happy with Him for ever in Heaven.
I am going to give you all my blessing. I will ask Our Lord to grant you His richest graces, and to bless also your dear parents, your brothers and sisters, your priests, teachers and all those you love."
I do not think there is any destinctive clothing worn by Christians. There of course are liturgical garments works by priests and altar boys. There are also vestments worn by nuns. We do not that Chritians go barefoot in church. This seems to be a tradition acquired because Hindus and Christiasns remove their shoes in temples and mosques.
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