The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal churches of the Catholic Church. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India. With more than 1096 parishes, its one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.
The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. It is the largest Syriac Christian church and the largest Eastern Catholic church. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed to investigate a special circumstance in a diocese or country, and to submit a report to the Holy See at the conclusion of the investigation.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (Syriac: ܐܦܪܟܝܐ ܪܒܬܐ ܕܫܢܓܢܐܣܐܪܐ, romanized: Afarkaya Rabbta d-Shanganasara; Malayalam: ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി അതിഭദ്രാസനം, romanized: Changanassery Athibhadhrasanam) is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
The Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly is the major archeparchy and the see of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It has been the major archeparchy since 1992 when the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church was elevated to the status of a major archiepiscopal church with Ernakulam-Angamaly as the primatal see. The major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly is the main bishop of the jurisdiction, at the same time the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The eparchies of Kothamangalam and Idukki are the two suffragan eparchies of the major archeparchy.
The Eparchy of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic of Chicago, also known as the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago, is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in the United States. Its episcopal seat is the Mar Thoma Sleeha Cathedral in the episcopal see of Chicago in Illinois state.
The Archeparchy of Kottayam is a Syro-Malabar Church metropolitan archeparchy of the Catholic Church in India. The archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who claim to be the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 4th century A.D.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Sagar is an eparchy in central India, which is part of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, yet is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Latin Catholic Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bhopal. It was created in 1968 as (missionary) and promoted diocese in 1977 by the papal bull Divina Verba of Pope Paul VI.
The Eparchy of Irinjalakuda is a suffragan eparchy in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur in Kerala state's Thrissur District, southern India.It is part of the Syro-Malabar Church.
This is a timeline of the history of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
St. Thomas Cathedral is the Syro Malabar Catholic cathedral of the eparchy of Irinjalakuda in India. It presently exists under the nomenclature and the Canonical Status as Cathedral in the Wake of the Origin of the New Eparchy, effected by the amalgamation of the two independent and important parishes of the locality, namely, St. George’s Forane Church and St. Mary’s church, which were amicably situated side by side for about a century.
Bosco Puthur is an Indian Catholic prelate of the Syro-Malabar Church, who is Bishop emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne. Since 7 December 2023, he serves as Apostolic Administrator of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly in India.
George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the postion from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church.
Raphael Thattil is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Church, and as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly since January 2024.
The Eparchy of Faridabad is a diocese of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Faridabad, a city in Haryana, India. Erected on 6 March 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI it serves around 150,000 Syro-Malabar Catholics in the area of Delhi. Its first and current eparch is Kuriakose Bharanikulangara, with the personal title of archbishop. The eparch resides in Faridabad, where the Kristuraja Cathedral is located.
The Eparchy of Palai is a Syro-Malabar Catholic ecclesiastical jurisdiction or eparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 1166 km2 comprising the Meenachil taluk and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts of central Kerala in South India. The faithful of this eparchy, numbering 326,742, belong to the ancient St. Thomas Christian community. The seat of the bishop is the St. Thomas Cathedral based in the town of Palai. The current bishop is Joseph Kallarangatt, serving since March 2004.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mississauga is an eparchy for all Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada. It comprises 72 parishes, which include both churches and missions, with churches or missions in all the provinces of Canada, and one territory.
The Eparchy of Great Britain is the sole Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. Its cathedral is Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in the episcopal see of Preston, Lancashire. This eparchy is exempt, that is, not part of any ecclesiastical province in the Latin Catholic Church, but immediately subject to the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, under the supervision of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. It has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in the entirety of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales. Most of the faithful of this eparchy are British Indians with heritage in Kerala, where the Syro-Malabar Church is historically based.
The Eparchy of Shamshabad is an eparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Telangana, India. It was established by Pope Francis on 10 October 2017, and Raphael Thattil was appointed its first bishop. In a letter to the bishops of India, Francis cited India's decades of experience with "overlapping jurisdictions" of different sui iuris churches. He wrote: "With the growth of spiritual friendship and mutual assistance, any tension or apprehension should be swiftly overcome. May this extension of the pastoral area of the Syro-Malabar Church in no way be perceived as a growth in power and domination, but as a call to deeper communion, which should never be perceived as uniformity."
