Church

Vettucaud has a rich faith tradition. The presence of Christian faith had existed in the Vettucaud area prior to the arrival of Portuguese in 1498. As per the missionary report sent to Rome, in 1644, Vettucaud had 175 faithful under the parish Raytura, present Valiyathura, as a part of the effects of the evangelization activities of St. Francis Xavier on the coastal shore of Travancore in 1544. The celebration of the Christian faith of the people was at the centre of their life.

Stone Cross. Image used for representative purposes only.

The earliest location for the faith gathering was at the foot of the Stone Cross; and later the shrine of St. Anne, which was located near the present Mystical Rose Convent. The second church building construction had begun at the time of Fr. Monteiro in 1899 with the limestone cut from Varkala. Fr. Gudhinho continued the works, especially the completion of the bell tower. The blessing of the church was done by Goan Msgr. Leon D'Souza, Vicar General of Cochin at the time of Fr Michael John in 1937.

St Anne.

Discussions on constructing a new church building were held during the Golden Jubilee of the shrine in 1992, but the actual planning was initiated by Fr. Ignatius Francis Louis in 2002. In 2005, when Fr. Johnson Alexander was the parish priest, the cemetery was translocated to the extreme north-east with a cellar vault for obtaining more space for the construction. The foundation stone of the existing church building was blessed on the Feast of Christ the King, 22 November 2009 by Archbishop Soosa Pakiam M.

Fr, Gladin Alex, Fr. Syrus Kalathil and Fr. Nicholas T. have contributed their active involvements during the construction phase. On 31 January 2018, the existing multi-architectural styled new church building was blessed and opened for celebration of liturgy and prayer by Rt. Rev. Dr. Soosa Pakiam, the then Archbishop of Trivandrum. 12 bishops, hundreds of priests and religious and thousands of the faithful and pilgrims witnessed the occasion. The crypt area of the church will consist of Mater Dei Adoration Chapel, Christus Rex small chapel and Vettucaud Church Museum; work began on 11 January 2024 with prayers led by Rev. Dr. Edison Yohannan M, the parish priest in the presence of the parishioners at the crypt area, and is planned to be completed in a year.