Pope Benedict XVI, who passed away aged 95 on Saturday, had once helped build a church in central Kerala.

The year was 1978 and Pope Benedict, who then went by the name Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had made a partial, but significant contribution to the construction of St Mary's Malankara Catholic Church in Alappuzha.

The church still holds a plaque bearing the name of the benefactor.

The unlikely connection between a modest parish in central Kerala and Cardinal Ratzinger materialised from a wishful correspondence.

Most Rev Dr Abraham Mar Julios, former metropolitan bishop of the Eparchy of Muvattupuzha, who was a priest back then had acted on a hunch.

"Back then we planned to construct a church in honour of our bishop Zachariah Mar Athanasios. A year before, he had attended the episcopal ordination of Cardinal Ratzinger in Munich," recollected Most Rev Dr Abraham Mar Julios.

"So, I wrote a letter telling him about how our bishop had attended his ordination and expressed our desire to construct a church. He responded with a generous contribution of 20,000 German Mark. It was partial financial support for our effort, but a significant amount back then. It should be equivalent to about Rs 5 lakh now," Mar Julios told Onmanorama.

There was a follow-up mail from the Cardinal that Mar Julios treasures to this day.

"Dear Fr Abraham, Don't thank me for helping you because it is my Christian duty to help a church in need. Please convey my greetings to your parishioners," Mar Julios recited the wordings from the letter he had long memorised.

Fr Antony Chethipuzha, who is the vicar of the church now, says very few modifications have been made to the original structure that was built using 'papal' help.