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1.00 Introduction
1.01 We, the 381 participants
of the Global Meet – 2006, being the
members of the Syro-Malabar Major
Archiepiscopal Church, coming
together from all quarters of the
globe, together with our Father and
Head of our Church, His Beatitude
Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil C.Ss.
R., all our Archbishops and Bishops,
having spent four fruitful days from
18 to 21 August, 2006, at Mount St
Thomas, the Major Archiepiscopal
Curia, in prayer and reflection,
study and discussion on the pastoral
needs and care of the members our
Syro-Malabar Church in diaspora, are
glad to share with all our brethren
and all the concerned, the findings
of our deliberations and the future
course of action.
1.02 First and foremost we
raise our hearts in praise and
gratitude to Almighty God, our
loving Father in Heaven, whose
gracious providence had been
protecting and guiding us all
throughout our lives.
1.03 Immensely proud of the
apostolic origin of our mother
Church, we fondly and respectfully
remember our Father in faith, St
Thomas, the Apostle whose
indomitable courage and total
commitment in the following of Jesus
(Jn. 11, 16) has always been a great
inspiration and ever-sustaining hope
for us amidst the various
vicissitudes and crises our Church
had undergone in the past.
1.04 Being extremely glad to
be the part of the one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church
established by Our Lord on the rock
of St Peter, we now express our
filial sentiments of love, respect
and obediance to our Holy Father
Benedict XVI, the successor of St.
Peter in the See of Rome, under
whose paternal care and concern, we
are sure, our Church will overcome
all hurdles and surge towards a
bright future.
2.00 A Review of the Past
2.01 A glance over the past
history of our Church gave us very
shocking and painful revelations.
Ours was the only Church called St
Thomas Christians, that existed in
India right from its foundation by
St Thomas, the Apostle in 52 A.D.
till the 16th century. It is a fact
that our Church was never separated
from the See of Peter at any time of
its two thousand years of existence.
But the Portuguese colonization and
Latin jurisdiction over the St
Thomas Christians in the Middle Ages
inaugurated a tragic era of division
and sowed the seeds of unrest that
later gave rise to unhappy events
and tensions in our Church.
2.02 On December 20, 1599,
Pope Clement VIII suppressed the All
India jurisdiction and Metropolitan
status of Angamaly, the See of St.
Thomas Christians. He then extended
the Padroado jurisdiction over the
See on August 4, 1600. The protest
against latinization, inaugurated by
the Synod of Diamper, climaxed in
the famous Oath of Coonan Cross on
3rd January 1653, causing a split in
the Church of St Thomas Christians,
with a considerable number of its
members getting separated from the
See of Peter and joining the
non-Catholic Antiochean Church, who
were later called “Jacobites”.
2.03 Such infringements on
our Church were continued when our
bishops were banned from governing
us and the jurisdiction of the Latin
Bishops was imposed on us as if we
belonged to the Latin Church. This
methodical latinization of our
Church went on as new Sees were
created, all in Latin rite, under
the rule of Propaganda till the
latter half of 19th Century.
2.04 Even when we were given
separate Sees in 1887, it was done
after the Latin model without
considering our Oriental nature.
2.05 It was the Second
Vatican Council that rediscovered
the ecclesiology of communion and
established the rights of the
Oriental Churches as equal to that
of the Latin Church. But by that
time the whole of India was already
divided into a number of Latin
ecclesiastical units.
2.06 Although finally our
Church was declared a Major
Archiepiscopal Church on December
16, 1992, our Church which was the
only Church that existed in India
until 16th centaury with the
all-India jurisdiction was really
cornered to the so-called
Territorium Proprium that confined
our Church to almost the State of
Kerala, with the two Metropolitan
Provinces of Ernakulam and
Changanacherry which were later
divided to form two more provinces,
Trichur and Tellicherry. We find
this totally unjust, illogical and
absurd, since many of us who had
come here from the different parts
of India are now forced to be called
migrants in our own mother country.
Our Indian Constitution however
assures the right of every one of
its citizens to settle down anywhere
in India, and to practise and
propagate one’s own religion. This
‘Territorium Proprium’ imposed on
our Church in India is an affront to
us Indian Christians and it forms
the latest example of the
Latinization of our Church in our
country.
3.00 The growth of Our Church in the
19th and 20th Centuries
3.01 In sprite of all odds
and suffocating restrictions, forced
upon us by the Padroado and
Propaganda jurisdictions, our
forefathers being always loyal to
the Holy See, tried their best to
live according to their ecclesial
and ritual traditions.
3.02 The starting of the
indigenous Religious Congregations (CMI,
CMC) in the latter half of the 19
century was a great step in the
spiritual growth of our Church. But
for the relentless efforts, in, of
Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara and
his Confreres, spite of the threats
to their lives the Rokos and Melus
schisms would have engulfed our
Church in Kerala. This prompted the
Holy See to establish separate
Apostolic Vicariates for us (Trichur
and Kottayam) in 1887.
3.03 The first half of the
20th century was a spring-time for
our Church. Many indigenous
congregations were started with
plentiful priestly and religious
vocations.
3.04 Because of the economic
and social compulsions owing to the
famine and scarcity that occurred
after the two world wars and the
lack of job opportunities, there
started an emigration of our people
from Kerala to other parts of India
and abroad.
3.05 Although our Church
suffered a lot by the process of
Latinization caused by the vested
interests and ulterior motives of
the authorities of the past, our
Syro-Malabar Church did not nurse
any ill-feeling towards the Latin
Church. Rather it always consulted
and collaborated with the latter,
showing a united face of Jesus to
our fellow citizens in India.
3.06 Again with the abundance
of priestly and religious vocations
in our Syro-Malabar Church, it was
the Latin Church that benefited
most. Thus our Church can really be
proud of providing about 20
Archbishops and Bishops, 4000
Priests, diocesan and religious,
20,000 religious sisters to the
service of the Latin Church in
India.
3.07 According to the
available data, as many as 70% (in
some cases even more) of the priests
and religious in the dioceses and in
the Institutes of consecrated life
of the Latin Church in India are
Syro-Malabarians. Missionaries from
the Syro-Malabar Church are working
all over the world in the Latin
Rite. While we acknowledge the need
to help other Churches with
candidates from our Church, it would
be just and fitting that we as a
Church be permitted to preach the
Gospel of Jesus all over India.
3.08 From reliable sources,
it is estimated that about 3,00,000
Syro-Malabar faithful are living
under Latin Jurisdiction in India.
In some cities and dioceses the
numbers of Syro-Malabarians vary
from 10,000 to 50,000 and even much
more. If we consider the population
of Catholics in many Latin Dioceses
(in the past one year 3 or 4 new
Latin Dioceses were erected which
have a Catholic population of even
less than 10,000), and apply the
same norms the Holy See has used
elsewhere in the United States and
Canada, and in the Middle East, we
are bound to get Syro-Malabar
Dioceses in the regions around New
Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkotta, Chennai
and Ahmedabad - Baroda – Surat -
Silvasa.
3.09 In the Gulf countries it
is roughly estimated that there are
over 4,00,000 Syro-Malabar emigrants
looking for adequate pastoral care.
So too in Australia, Europe, U.K.
and Ireland there is a considerable
number of Syro-Malabar Catholics,
about 1,00,000, again yearning for
appropriate arrangements to satisfy
their pastoral needs.
3.10 In this context we
greatly appreciate and feel grateful
to the step taken by the Holy See
for creating the see of Kalyan (-Nasik
– Pune) in Maharashtra in India and
also the St. Thomas Diocese of
Chicago in U.S.A.
4.00 The Pastoral Care of Emigrants
4.01 As we meet here in this
august assembly from across the
world we want to greatly emphasize
the need of Pastoral Care for the
members of our Church in India and
all over the world who do not come
under the direct Jurisdiction of our
Syro-Malabar Hierarchy. We are
witnesses to the fact that lack of
adequate pastoral care for the sons
and daughters of our Church has been
highly detrimental even to their
faith resulting in their falling
away from it and getting into the
various Pentecostal groups. Hence we
request all concerned to provide the
rightful and adequate pastoral care
to all our members in diaspora
without any delay.
4.02 We are very glad to note
that regarding pastoral care of
migrants, very clear, precise and
even detailed norms and directives
are given by the Second Vatican
Council, the Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches as well as that of
Latin Church, many official
documents of the Holy See published
after Vatican II and very recently
the Holy Sees’ Instruction, Erga
Migrantes Caritas Christi (Christ’s
Love towards the Migrants).
4.03 Second Vatican Council
very beautifully and clearly speaks
about the Pastoral Care for the
migrants. In the Decree on Oriental
Churches, it says: “Provision must
be made therefore everywhere in the
world to protect and advance all
these Individual Churches. For this
purpose each should organize its own
parishes and hierarchy, where the
spiritual good of the faithful
requires it.” (OE4). Again Christus
Dominus instructs the bishops:
“Where there are faithful of a
different rite, the diocesan Bishop
should provide for their spiritual
needs either through priests or
parishes of that rite or through an
Episcopal Vicar endowed with the
necessary faculties”(CD23).
4.04 In the Canon Law of both
the Oriental Churches (CCEO) and the
Latin Church (CIC) norms for the
Pastoral Care of migrants in their
own sui iuris ecclesial tradition
are given very precisely: “The
Christian faithful have the right to
worship God according to the
prescriptions of their own sui iuris
Church” (CCEO c.17; CIC c. 214).
Having discussed the membership in a
sui iuris Church (CIC cc. 112; CCEO
cc. 29, 31, 38 to 147), preservation
and promotion of rites (CCEO c.
39-41) and obligation of pastors, (CCEO
cc . 41, 193, 207, 246; CIC cc. 383,
399, 476, 518), the Codes of Canon
Law, especially that of the Latin
Church (CIC) go further and
recommend the establishment of a
separate diocese in the same
territory if needed: “There can be
erected within the same territory of
particular Churches which are
distinct by reason of the rite of
the faithful or some similar reason
when such is deemed advantageous in
the judgment of the Supreme
Authority of the Church after it had
listened to the conferences of
Bishops concerned” (CIC c. 372 §2).
4.05 The above disproves all
aspersions cast against the double
Jurisdiction in the same territory.
The establishment of Kalyan Diocese
in 1988 and that of the St. Thomas
Diocese of Chicago in 2001 are very
good examples of double jurisdiction
in practice. The same is awaited in
the big cities of India, and in the
Gulf countries.
4.06 The Erga Migrantes
Caritas Christi finally reiterates
the above mentioned obligation of
providing pastoral care to the
Eastern Catholic migrants with
special reference to the Latin
Bishops (Nos. 52 - 55).
4.07 It is a sad fact that in
spite of the clear teachings of the
Church and the provisions in both
the codes of canon law regarding the
pastoral care of the faithful of
another sui iuris Church, their
implementation has been very
inadequate owing to the less
welcoming attitude of the Latin
Hierarchy. At the same time we
gratefully acknowledge the efforts
of the Holy See for providing
pastoral care for the Syro-Malabar
emigrants in different parts of the
world by appointing Apostolic
Visitors – Late Cardinal Antony
Padiyara, Bishop Gregory Karotemprel,
CMI, Bishop Joseph Pallikaparampil
and recently Bishop Gratian Mundadan,
CMI.
5.00 Requests to the Holy See.
5.01 When we are gathered
here from across the world as the
sons and daughters of the Syro-Malabar
Major Archiepiscopal Church of
Apostolic Origin and feeling proud
of our ritual patrimony and
ecclesial traditions, we express our
filial sentiments of love and
gratitude to our beloved Holy Father
Pope Benedict XVI and humbly request
His Holiness to help us get
immediately the just and rightful
pastoral care guaranteed by the
Second Vatican Council, both the
Codes of Canon Law and the recent
apostolic documents. Our humble
request includes the following:
5.02 Being the second largest
among the Catholic Oriental
Churches, we request for the
elevation our Church to the
Patriarchal status.
5.03 We request for the
extension of Territoruim Proprium of
our Church to the whole of India so
that we never feel migrants in our
own mother country. We request the
Holy Father to erect dioceses in the
various parts of India where there
is a sizeable number of Syro-Malabar
faithful.
5.04 We request for the
establishment of separate dioceses
in the Gulf Countries and in Europe
so that the pastoral needs and
concerns of our faithful are
adequately taken care of. We request
for the appointment of one bishop
each with personal jurisdiction to
look after the pastoral needs of our
emigrant faithful in the UK &
Ireland and in the Gulf Countries.
6.00 Conclusion
We express our heartfelt gratitude
to our ecclesiastical authorities,
especially His Beatitude Varkey
Cardinal Vithayathil C.Ss.R., our
Major Archbishop, the Synod of
Bishops and the Synodal Commission
for Evangelization and the Pastoral
Care for Migrants for bringing us
all together for this Global Meet –
2006 from all over the world and to
get conscientized regarding our
pastoral needs and concerns and to
give expression in this august
assembly to our just and rightful
needs regarding pastoral care.
Now as we take leave of this venue
of the Global Meet 2006, we are
convinced of our responsibility of
living as the ambassadors of the
Syro-Malabar Church, witnessing to
our faith received from St. Thomas
our father in the faith and
imparting its rich heritage and
patrimony to our children. In fine,
we raise our hearts and minds in
gratitude to the Spirit of the Lord
who guided all of us throughout this
Meet, kept our faith always alive
and helped us to go ahead with
renewed hope. |
