For thousands of years, this strain of Indian Catholicism has been passed down through generations, holding fast through political upheavals and India's independence. But the Indian-American youth of St. Thomas were arguing that if the church didn't evolve, it wouldn't survive.
"They [the adults] said, 'No, we don't want an English Mass; you guys should learn to speak Malayalam, because that's who we are and what we are,' " Alapat remembered. "We said, 'Most American kids, when we do anything, we do it in English. English is our native tongue.' "
It's a familiar battle in any immigrant community: The older generation fears extinction, while the young people rebel against stagnation. But to this church, this faith, that fear of loss is twofold. The Syro-Malabar community is Indian and Catholic in equal measure. Parents worry that if their children lose their faith, they will also lose an intrinsic part of their culture.
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