About Us
HISTORY OF THE PARISH – Madre-de-Deus Church
The parish of Vettucaud, designated as "Madre-de-Deus Church" bears tradition of more than 500 years. It is traditionally believed that the famous missionary, St. Francis Xavier, visited Vettucaud somewhere in between 1543 and 1547 to evangelize the faithful of this region. The letters written by Fr. Francis Peres S. J. addressed to the superior general of the society of Jesus in Rome in the year 1568 reveals that Madre-de-Deus Vettucaud Parish had a Christian population of 175. It is reported in the letter that when St. Francis Xavier reached Vettucaud, he was amuses to see a small chapel ( japalayam) and a granite cross there.
This is a clear evidence of the fact that there existed a good number of faithful Christians in Vettuicaud long back from 15th century onwards.
At present, Vettucaud has grown into a small township with a Christian population of 6000.
