Location Jerusalem | Country Israel | |
Denomination Catholic (Syrian Catholic Rite) Similar Temple Mount, Church of the Nativity, Christ Church - Jerusalem, Hurva Synagogue, Jerusalem Biblical Zoo | ||
The St. Thomas Church (Latin: Ecclesia Sancti Thomae) or the Cathedral of St. Thomas is the name given to a Catholic religious building of Eastern Rite (Syriac Catholic or Ecclesiae Syriae Catholicae) that is located in the city of Jerusalem in the Holy Land.
It serves as the headquarters of the Syriac Patriarchal Exarchate of Jerusalem (Hierosolymitanus), which was created in 1890 after the Syrian Church accepted the Pope in Rome as its head in 1782.
Due to conflicts and instability in the region, the headquarters of the Exarchate has moved between several places before its current location in the church of St. Thomas; in 1948 it had its center at the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City, then moved to Bethlehem and 1965 again to Jerusalem, to the current House of Abraham. In 1973, he bought a plot of land and settled at 6 Chaldean Street. Only in 1986, the church of St. Thomas was built along with other facilities including a building for pilgrims and a youth center.