1926

"Little Rome" — Chinna Romapuri

In 1926, struck by the grandeur of the Holy Family Church, the first Bishop of Tuticorin, Most Rev. Dr Francis Tiburtius Roche, SJ, lovingly named Vadakkankulam "Chinna Romapuri," Little Rome. The title has been the village's proud second name ever since, drawing pilgrims who come to see a church likened to the great basilica of Rome.