ONE of India's leading Church figures, Mar George Cardinal
Alencherry, Major Archbishop and head of the Syro-Malabar Catholics will
concelebrate Holy Qurbana (Malayalam) Mass in St Joachim's Church,
Holland Park on Thursday, November 29 at 6pm.
Brisbane archdiocese's vicar general Monsignor Peter Meneely will be
at the Mass to welcome the Church leader who will be in Australia until
December 7.
The cardinal will attend official functions and concelebrate Mass in
other locations including Townsville, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Darwin
and Adelaide.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic faithful in Australia numbers around 32,000, spread across 18 active communities.
Due
to this expansion, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference appointed
a national coordinator, Fr Francis Kolencherry, to manage the pastoral
needs of the communities under various chaplains.
Fr Kolencherry
said the cardinal's pastoral visit was at the invitation of the
Australian Catholic Bishops and the national Syro-Malabar community.
"It will mark the first time a head of the Syro-Malabar Church has travelled to Australia," he said.
"It will be a valuable opportunity to meet with Church leaders and
pledge ongoing support for the Syro-Malabar faithful in Australia. Mar Alencherry will visit a selection of their communities, hold
discussions with bishops, priests, religious and community members, and
gather information on the Syro-Malabar faithful in Australia to present
to the Major Archiepiscopal curia in India."
The Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest of the 22 Oriental
(Eastern Rite) Catholic Churches in full communion with the Church in
Rome (Latin Rite), and one of four having in common the East Syrian
Liturgical tradition.
It is a sui juris (autonomous) Church governed by a Synod of Bishops headed by the Major Archbishop.
While the majority of Roman Catholics belong to the Latin Rite, the
Eastern Rite provides a unique dimension to Catholic heritage and
spirituality.
The Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Catholic Eastern Churches
emphasised the importance of their institutions, liturgical rites,
ecclesiastical traditions and their ordering of Christian life.
Each
of these communities professes the same belief and they are all united
as one Church, yet differences in culture, language and geographical
location, over time, have influenced the expression of their faith, even
though the essential elements have remained the same.
Known for its deep-rooted spirituality and high rate of vocations to
the priesthood and religious life, the Syro-Malabar Church is perhaps
the most vibrant Catholic Church in the world, with over four million
believers and a rich and fascinating history.
Syro-Malabar Catholics, also called "St Thomas Christians", trace
their origins and faith to the missionary efforts of St Thomas the
Apostle, who landed at Kodungallur in Kerala, India, in 52 AD.
St Thomas was martyred at Mylapur, Chennai, India, in 72 AD, after
preaching and establishing Christian communities in different parts of
India.
Until the late 16th century, bishops were appointed and sent by the
Patriarch of the East Syrian Church, who governed the St Thomas
Christians.
However, the arrival of the Portuguese in India marked a new era in
the life of the Church.
The Syrian bishops stopped coming and the Latin
missionaries, suspecting the St Thomas Christians of heresy, started
Latinising them.
Hierarchically they were brought under the rule of the Latin Bishops after the Synod of Diamper.
In 1653 in the 'Coonan Cross Oath' at Mattancherry, many St Thomas Christians vowed to disobey the ruling Latin Bishop.
Thus began a rift among St Thomas Christians, who were one Church until that time.
Eventually, some returned to the jurisdiction of the Latin rule to be
in communion with the Pope, while others stood firm in their stand of
opposition to the Portuguese.
Finally, after 230 years of Latin governance, the Syro-Malabar Church hierarchy was established in India, in 1923.
Since then it has grown rapidly, and in 1992 Pope John Paul ll
elevated it to the status of a Major Archiepiscopal Sui Juris Church
with the title of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
It is one of the three Major Archiepiscopal Churches, the other two being the Syro-Malankara Church and the Ukrainian Church.
On May 24, 2011, the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
elected Mar George Alencherry as the Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar
Church, which Pope Benedict XVI acknowledged the following day.
A major archbishop is similar to a patriarch, in that he has autonomous jurisdiction in his particular Church.
He brings an extraordinary breadth of experience and knowledge to his
position. He was born in 1945 in the archdiocese of Changancherry,
Kerala, India.
After completing his theological studies at St.
Joseph's Pontifical Seminary, Aluva, and a degree in economics, he took
doctorate in biblical theology from Sorbonne University and the Catholic
institute, Paris.
When Pope John Paul II established the diocese of Thuckalay on
November 11, 1996, Fr. George Alencherry was appointed its first bishop.
Pope Benedict XVI made Mar Alencherry a cardinal on February 18, 2012.
There have been 11 Indian cardinals; he is the fourth from the
Syro-Malabar Church, presiding over 47 bishops and around 7000 priests
worldwide.
As head of the Syro-Malabar Church, he is concerned with the spiritual welfare of migrant faithful now living far from India.
The
Catholic Church's response to the pastoral care of migrant people is
organised on the basis of language, culture, country of origin and
ethnicity.
The presumption is that these migrants belong to the one Catholic
Church, but they need special care because they have a different
language, culture and traditions.