KOZHIKODE, India - Religious and political leaders joined 2,000 people recently to rededicate a church building that a Hindu king helped build nearly five centuries ago.
 
Mother of God Cathedral in Kozhikode (formerly Calicut) 'is the oldest church in Malabar and it has boosted evangelization in the region,' said Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil of Calicut during the 29 October rededication Mass.

The present cathedral now stands on the site of a chapel that Hindu king Bharanithirunnal Shaktan Thampuran, Zamorin of Calicut, had permitted European missioners to build in 1513.