New church to have museum too

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Old Bibles in various languages, ‘miracles’ and history will form part of a museum planned at the new Madre de Deus Church, Vettucaud, church officials said.The church had recently obtained the go-ahead from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for demolishing the old building and constructing a new, spacious place of worship."The museum will be part of the new church. It will have old Bibles published in languages including German, Italian, Hindi and English. The history of the church will be another exhibit. We also plan to include information on favours received by the faithful from this church in the museum. There are people who got jobs after praying here for instance,’’ Fr Gladin Alex, Vettucaud parish priest, said."There will also be a section on saints.’’CRZ norms had prevented the church officials’ plans to demolish the old, nearly-80-year-old church and construct the new one. With the MoEF giving clearance, the church officials said that the new building would be constructed keeping in mind all the norms prescribed by the MoEF. There will be facilities for draining out waste water and for processing of solid wastes. Other amenities include parking space.According to Fr Gladin, the church will have enough space for 2,000 devotees to offer prayers. A ‘Bible Tower’, another attraction, will feature major events in the Old and New Testaments. An underground worship hall will be open 24/7 and people can offer prayers here anytime they wish. At present, the Madre de Deus Church offers Holy Mass in Malayalam, English and Tamil. During the annual festival in November, the church also offers Hindi mass.