Renovations of St. Louis Church, a historic church near Kochi was stopped after the Archaeology department interposed, on receiving requests from an action council to protect the heritage structure. The parish priest of the Church, Fr. Xavier Chirammel said that the Church would be 150 years old next year and that some celebrations had been planned, for which alterations were being made. Authorities at the St. Louis Catholic Church in Mundamveli said that they have stopped a move to make alterations inside the church after they received a memo from the State Archaeology Department.
As reported by ucanindia.in, Fr. Chirammel remarked that “As a part of the celebration that had been planned for 150th year, parish authorities had decided to bring about some changes and the attempt was to bring back the traditional look of the church’s interiors, including the altar.” Further, he added, “The attempt by parish authorities now was to use wood to restore the original look, however, some persons, who are not parishioners, have sent a complaint to the Archaeology Department regarding the changes that were planned.”
Fr. Chirammel claimed that alterations had been made to the church in 1997 when it turned 130 years old. The Department of Archaeology in its stop memo to parish authorities said that it had received a representation from the Joint Christian Council regarding the attempts that were being made to bring about alterations inside the more than 150-year-old-church.
