Thomas the Apostle

Who they were

Thomas, called Didymus ('the twin'), was one of the Twelve. When Jesus decided to go back to Bethany after Lazarus died and the others were afraid, it was Thomas who said, 'Let us also go, that we may die with him.' At the Last Supper his question drew from Christ the words 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.'

Absent when the risen Jesus first appeared to the apostles, he refused to believe without touching the wounds. Eight days later Jesus showed him His hands and side, and Thomas answered, 'My Lord and my God!' He is honoured by Catholics, Orthodox and Copts, and his relics are kept in the church dedicated to him at Ortona in Italy.

The miracles

There was never a formal cause: Thomas has been honoured as an apostle since the earliest Church.

Why that counted as sanctity

Thomas is the apostle of honest doubt that becomes faith. He did not hide his questions, and when he met the risen Christ he made the Gospel's fullest confession of who Jesus is: 'My Lord and my God.'