Hereby I present a report of the activities of the Commission for the Evangelization and Pastoral Care of the Migrants (CEPCM) for the period from November 2004 to December 2005. The Commission rejoices at the various undertakings that it has had as well as at its glorious accomplishments and achievements in the past. Bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI is the chairman of the Commission since its inception and Bishops Mar Vijay Anand Nedumpuram CMI and Mar Mathew Vaniakizhakkel VC are its members at present. Fr Joby Koottumkal mst is the new secretary to the Commission, appointed on the 20th of June 2005, replacing Fr Elvis Mangalappilly who had rendered selfless service to the Commission for about three years since 2002.

The Commission accomplished the Herculean task of publishing for the first time an all-inclusive Syro-Malabar Catholic Directory in November 2004 chiefly due to the support and encouragement of the Synod of Bishops and the hard work of Fr Elvis Mangalappilly, the former secretary to the Commission. The Directory provided basic information about the history of the Syro-Malabar Church in brief, the important dates in the growth of the Church, the latest available statistics of the 26 eparchies of the Syro-Malabar Church, the Religious Congregations and Societies of Apostolic Life of priests, brothers and sisters and a lot of other things.

The Commission has joyfully undertaken the preparation and promulgation of a Mission Policy of the Syro-Malabar Church in the challenging circumstances of the Mission of the Church in the third Millennium. The special committee, set up by the Commission for the purpose, had held many sittings before it brought out a final draft, incorporating the many and varied ideas and rich experiences of many in mission life into the Mission Policy. The Commission arranged a meeting of the Special Committee for the finalization of the Mission Policy on the 23rd of August at 6:00 pm in the Synodal Hall at Mount St Thomas, Kakkanad to incorporate the suggestions, made by the bishops who had studied the draft, to its final form. Bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI chaired the meeting. Suggestions were thoroughly scrutinized before they found their due place in the draft. Bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI sent the draft thus prepared to England for language correction and is now ready for print.

Two official meetings of the Commission for the Evangelization and Pastoral Care of the Migrants (CEPCM) were held under the chairmanship of His Excellency Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI, the chairman of the Commission, on the sidelines of the XIII Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church at Mount St Thomas, Kakkanad, between the 23rd of August and the 3rd of September 2005. The first meeting was held on the 24th of August 2005 in the CEPCM office at Mount St Thomas at 6:30 pm. Bishops Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI, Mar Vijay Anand Nedumpuram CMI and Fr Joby Koottumkal, secretary to the Commission were the participants. The report by Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI on his visitation to England and Ireland was discussed and the members expressed deep satisfaction over the findings of Bishop Gregory. The proposed Global Meet to be held from the 18th to the 21st of August 2006 also formed part of the discussion and important decisions regarding the dignitaries to be invited for the function, venue, date, time schedule etc. were taken. The meeting decided to go ahead with the publication of the Directory of the Migrants and proposed a meeting of the North Indian missionaries on the Mission Policy after its publication in 2006.

The second meeting was held on the 26th of August 2005 and all the members of the Commission as well as its secretary attended it. It considered sending of priests to the UK, Ireland, Singapore and Australia, among other topics. The activities in Surat, Delhi and the Gulf region also were discussed in detail and suggestions were made to coordinate all the activities of the Commission in a better way.

From the 16th of July to the 14th of August 2005, Bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel CMI undertook an official visitation of England and Ireland where thousands of Syro-Malabar Migrant Catholics reside, work and study mainly from the year 2000. The visit covered 27 centres from London and Cardiff in the South through Midlands to Liverpool and Newcastle in the North, in addition to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin and Belfast. This was the first official visitation carried out by the Commission. The purpose of the visit was to understand and appreciate the circumstances with regard to the pastoral care of the Syro-Malabar migrants living in United Kingdom and Ireland. Bishop Mar Gregory held talks with the Local Ordinaries in those dioceses where Syro-Malabar faithful practise their faith in sizeable numbers as well as with the faithful themselves. He gathered opinions from the Syro-Malabar faithful and listened to their concerns regarding the practice of their faith and spiritual patrimony. He discussed various proposals with the faithful for the betterment of the Syro-Malabar community. The young Syro-Malabar Christians rejuvenated the parishes with regular attending of the Church services and added new vigour and vitality to the Church in the UK, according the testimony of the Latin parish priests. It is really heartening to hear that. As a significant fruit of the discussions with the Local Latin Hierarchs it was decided to appoint a National Co-coordinator as well as other priests for the pastoral care of the Syro-Malabar faithful in the UK and Ireland. The Syro-Malabar community as well as the Bishops and priests of the land deeply appreciated the visitation. Correspondence with the Latin prelates and the Syro-Malabar communities in many countries like the Gulf, Switzerland, Germany, Australia etc. has been going on since long back and tremendous progress is seen in mutual relations and understanding.

On 28th August 2005, the first Syro-Malabar parish in Kolkata with the title, St Thomas Syro-Malabar parish, was officially erected and declared as a result of the sincere efforts and prayers from the part of the Commission, the CMI priests as well as the Syro-Malabar migrant faithful of the Metropolitan city of Kolkata. This is a territorial parish with less than 200 Syro-Malabar families and those who live outside the territory are not permitted to join the parish.

On the 28th of November 2005, Most Rev. A.M. Chinnappa, Archbishop of Madra-Mylapore, issued a very significant decree, raising the Chennai Mission for the Syro-Malabar Catholics to the status of a Chaplaincy with special privileges after a series of discussions and consultations. He recognized St Thomas Pastoral Centre at Ayanavaram as the centre of the Chaplaincy and declared St Joseph's Church at Perambur, Holy Cross Church at Mugappair, St Peter's Church at Avadi, St Mary's Church at Athipet, St George's Church at Ernavoor and St Sebastian's Church at Otteri as public places of divine worship. The decree deals with the faculties, rights and duties of the Chaplain and other priests elaborately while the letter to Mar James Pazhayattil, the bishop of Irinjalakuda, from the archbishop conveys his saddening view 'the time for establishing a parish either territorial or personal for the Syro-Malabar Catholics living in our Archdiocese is not yet ripe'. Still one can hope that it is definitely a step forward to the realization of the long cherished dream of the Syro-Malabar migrant faithful in Chennai Mission for a separate eparchial unit of their own as per the traditions of their Church sui juris.

It was another significant development that His Eminence Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil laid the foundation stone for the construction of the first Syro-Malabar Church in the Middle East on 9th December 2005, in the presence of H. E. Bishop Paul Hinder, the Apostolic Vicar of Arabia and H. E. Bihop Camillo Balin, the Apostolic Vicar of Kuwait at a very grand function. This was a historic event that would be written in golden letters in the annals of the history of the Syro-Malabar Church. The message given by the cardinal was very clear and explicit in every country he visited. While affirming the authority and jurisdiction of the local Latin Bishops over the Syro-Malabar faithful in the Gulf, he also pointed, in uncertain terms, to the duty of all the faithful to practise their tradition as well as heritage. He reminded the local Bishops of their responsibility in providing proper pastoral assistance to the migrant Syro-Malabar Catholics and assured the migrants in the Gulf that he would have a sustained dialogue with the local Bishops in the area on the subject for a favourable outcome. Bishop Paul Hinder offered the Syro-Malabar community three million Qatari Riyal, i.e., half of the cost of the project for the construction of the Church, in front of the Cardinal during the function. It was indeed a kind gesture and an indirect admission of his responsibility to provide for the facilities of the Syro-Malabar community to worship in their tradition. During the visit the Cardinal met business icon Mr Yusuf Ali, chairman of EMKE group (Lulu Hypermarkets) and the Lakeshore Hospital, who arranged for him a meeting with the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs in Abu Dhabi. The Visit of the Cardinal to the Gulf region is deemed a grand success.

I thank God for the choicest blessings that He showers on the Commission. I avail this opportunity to thank Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil, the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, all the members of the Synod of Bishops, all the members of the Curia as well as the whole staff at Mount St Thomas for the support and encouragement that they have been extending to the Commission. I am beholden to Bishop Mar Gregory Karotemprel, the chairman of the Commission and its members Bishops Mar Vijay Anand Nedumpuram CMI and Mar Mathew Vaniakizhakkel VC as well for their able guidance and constant encouragement.

Fr Joby Koottumkal mst
Secretary, CEPCM