The proposal to open a house in Chennai, capital of Tamil Nadu State, came from Br Carmel Kizhakkel. Since the community of Bangalore had enough trained members, it was decided to send some of them to begin a community in Chennai. In 1970 Fr Maurus went from Allahabad to Chennai to meet the Archbishop and to look for a place. He did not find a good place. 
Shortly after that, Fr Stephen Pullan, Br Basil Chennamkulam and Br Vincent Alencheril reached Chennai to explore the possibility of diffusing our publications. They took along a large number of books from the Examiner Bookshop in Mumbai, and sold out the entire stock. Several parish priests as well as men and women religious welcomed them and cooperated with them. 
Before long, Fr Alfonso Ferrero, the Provincial, and Br Basil went to Chennai to look for a place. Fr Paul Maruthanakuzhiyil (M. K. Paul, now deceased) joined them, and they found a suitable house for rent in Annanagar. Soon Br Carmel Kizhakel and Br Antony Pottanani joined them.

The house of Chennai was opened on 13 October 1972. Archbishop Arulappa was much interested in entrusting to the Paulines his press; but seeing the condition of the press and the workers which was far from ideal, the provincial declined the offer. However, he took up the Good Pastor International Bookshop (formerly Good Pastor Depot) on Armenian Street from the Salesian Fathers. Since then this has been the main activity of the community. 
After a couple of years the Paulines in Chennai set up residence at Annanagar, in the land offered by the Archdiocese for our use, and Fr M.K. Paul was appointed the first pastor of the nascent St Luke’s Parish. It was he who built the house of the Society of St Paul and the Parish church. The Archbishop had admitted the Paulines into the Archchdiocese on condition that they take up this parish. From the time of its inception till today, Pauline Fathers have been its Parish Priests. 34 In addition to Good Pastor International Book Centre in the city, the community runs a book centre at the residence in Annanagar. It also looks after our publications in the Tamil language. In 2003, under the leadership of the then parish priest Fr Michael Raj the SSP built a large shrine of Divine Mercy about 2 kilometres from the house, on the land given for our use by MadrasInstitute To Habilitate Retarded Afflicted (MITHRA). The shrine was blessed on 29 July 2003, and is in our pastoral and administrative care. It has become a centre of popular devotion and pilgrimage.