In past generations, having a son become a priest increased the family’s stature, said the Reverend Jose Kuriedath, a sociologist in Aluva who has written a book about vocations in India. Kuriedath recounted an adage in Malayalam, the local language: “It is equal in dignity to have either an elephant or a priest in the family.” But this is changing.

At St Paul’s Minor Seminary in the Diocese of Irinjalakuda, sleepy teenage boys clamber from their dormitory every morning down to chapel, past a statue of Mary and portraits of Pope Benedict XVI and Gandhi. Chacko Kuttuparambil, a stocky 17-year-old, felt called to the priesthood because, he said, as a child he was miraculously cured of a viral infection that paralysed the right side of his body. “He gave me life,” Chacko said, “so I am to give my life to Him.”