The Vatican and many of the
Latin-rite bishops of India are not treating the Syro-Malabar Catholic
Church with justice, and that makes the church look bad, Auxiliary
Bishop Bosco Puthur of Ernakulam-Angamaly told Pope Benedict XVI.
While other Christians and other religions enjoy the freedom to build
churches and conduct services anywhere in India, the Eastern Catholic
churches "are denied it, paradoxically not by the state, but by our own
ecclesiastical authorities," the bishop said.
Bishop Puthur, administrator of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, made
his remarks to Pope Benedict April 7 at the end of the Syro-Malabar
bishops' "ad limina" visits to the Vatican to report on the status of
their dioceses.
Generally, the leaders of the Eastern Catholic churches such as the
Syro-Malabar church enjoy full freedom to elect bishops and erect
dioceses only in their church's traditional territory; otherwise, the
responsibility is left to the pope, often in consultation with the
Latin-rite bishops of the region concerned.
In the case of the Syro-Malabar church, Bishop Puthur told Pope Benedict
that its traditional territory was all of India until Latin-rite
missionaries arrived in the 15th century. Now any of its faithful living
outside Kerala state are subject to the authority of the local
Latin-rite bishop.
"We are convinced that it is the credibility of the Apostolic See that
is at stake if this jurisdictional right is not restored to its pristine
status," the bishop said.
Bishop Puthur presented five requests to Pope Benedict: the restoration
of "all-India jurisdiction" to the Syro-Malabar Church; permission to
establish dioceses throughout India; permission to set up archdioceses
in Delhi and other large cities; the establishment of a special
jurisdiction for the Persian Gulf states, in order to serve the tens of
thousands of Syro-Malabar Catholics from India working in the region;
action to improve the pastoral care of Syro-Malabar Catholics in Europe,
Australia and other parts of the world.
The Syro-Malabar leader thanked the Latin-rite bishops of the United
States and Canada for supporting the appointment in 2001 of a
Chicago-based bishop for his church's faithful in North America.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has about 3.7 million members around
the world, Bishop Puthur said. Currently, there are 29 dioceses served
by: 32,855 women religious; 3,987 diocesan priests; 3,133 religious
order priests; and 745 religious brothers, he said.
In his talk to the bishops, Pope Benedict urged them to work for unity
within their dioceses, in their church and with the all the bishops of
India.
"This responsibility is of special importance in a country like India
where the unity of the church is reflected in the rich diversity of her
rites and traditions," he said.
Another area where efforts toward unity must be given priority is the family, the pope said.
"A privileged expression of sharing in the divine life is through sacramental marriage and family life," he said.
Pope Benedict said the church can no longer assume that society at large
will support or supplement its efforts to provide a "sound and integral
education of young people in the ways of chastity and responsibility,"
nor will it always reinforce a vision of marriage as a permanent bond
between a man and a woman open to having and educating children.
"Have your families look to the Lord and his saving word for a complete
and truly positive vision of life and marital relations, so necessary
for the good of the whole human family," he said. "Let your preaching
and catechesis in this field be patient and constant."