Rome Erects New Syro Malabar Diocese In Australia

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On January 11, Francis Mar Papa has erected St. Thomas Syro Malabar Diocese of Melbourne Australia for the diaspora of Syro Malabar Catholics. The Holy Father has appointed Mar Bosco Puthur, the Curial Bishop of the Metropolitan Diocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, as the first bishop of the new diocese. Mar Bosco Puthur has also been given the title of Apostolic Visitor to New Zealend for all Syro Malabar Catholics who reside there. May Maran Mar Eesho Mishiha bless and watch over the new diocese and bestow wisdom upon Mar Bosco Puthur to be a fervent and compassionate leader.

I seem to be at the max attachments so I cant post a picture of Mar Bosco Puthur but here’s one of him from my album.
forums.catholic-questions.org/album.php?albumid=2211&pictureid=16286
 
👍

A couple of (hopefully not too random) thoughts:
  • It will be interesting to see stats about how many Syro-Malabar Catholics live in Australia (granted, we may have to wait a while for stats). About 5% of Melkites, Maronites, and Chaldean Catholics live there.
  • I believe that this will be the second location-outside-India for a SM diocese/eparchy (the other being in the USA). I wonder if there will be in any more, and if so where.
 
this was mentioned a few years ago in the National Bishop’s conference. It’s good news

It is going to really cause problems for the latin church…it is also interesting that it is based in melbourne not sydney
 
From the St Thomas Parish website in Melbourne:“St Thomas Parish is a catholic parish of the Malayalee faithful in the Syro-Malabar rite in Melbourne. Keralites, for various reasons have migrated to various parts of the world. They have found Melbourne also as good haven for living. Even if they are migrating they do not want to cut of from the homeland denying its entire rich heritage. They take their patrimony especially the faith traditions with them wherever they go. Ever since the number of catholic migrants increased in Melbourne they wished for a parish of their own.”
 
As Malphono stated, the reason its situated in Melbourne is because of the higher Syro Malabar population there.
shlomo3amrooh said:
this was mentioned a few years ago in the National Bishop’s conference. It’s good news

It is going to really cause problems for the latin church…it is also interesting that it is based in melbourne not sydney
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Curious, why would it cause problems for the Latin Church?
 
Is it just me, or is there a flurry of news about new bishops being installed for Oriental and Eastern Churches? I recall last year there was talk of what would be the result of the meeting of the non-Latin bishops with HH (I think it happened early December last year?). I recall some proclaiming rather sarcastically “NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. It will be just like the Middle East conference, whose primary concern was the dearth of much-needed bishops for the Oriental and Eastern faithful. Nothing happened then, and nothing will happen now.”

I’m glad that their prognostications have been proven to be false!!!

Blessings
 
Thomas48 said:
Curious, why would it cause problems for the Latin Church?
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There is a large portion of Syro-Malabar Priests who are Parish priests in the latin rite, that is, many have been incardinated into the Latin Rite. Infact, I think most of the imported Indian priests are Syro-Malabar.

I imagine there will be a mass exodus back to the Syro-malabar Church.
 
shlomo3amrooh said:
There is a large portion of Syro-Malabar Priests who are Parish priests in the latin rite, that is, many have been incardinated into the Latin Rite. Infact, I think most of the imported Indian priests are Syro-Malabar.

I imagine there will be a mass exodus back to the Syro-malabar Church.
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You have a point and (Blessed Be God) this is due to the high level of vocations in the Syro Malabar Church. Though here in America even though we have a Syro Malabar Diocese there are still many Syro Malabar priests incardinated in the Latin Church. The number of Syro Malabar priests greatly outnumbers our parishes and clergy positions, in my opinion we are truly blessed for this.
 
Thomas48 said:
You have a point and (Blessed Be God) this is due to the high level of vocations in the Syro Malabar Church. Though here in America even though we have a Syro Malabar Diocese there are still many Syro Malabar priests incardinated in the Latin Church. The number of Syro Malabar priests greatly outnumbers our parishes and clergy positions, in my opinion we are truly blessed for this.
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(bold mine)

Your thread reminded me I wanted to start this topic forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=854764 a long time ago. If you have some ideas how these “extra priests” could be used to help Eastern Catholicism to be seen in the West, or any other notes, maybe you could see that topic and share your ideas.
 
Vico said:
From the St Thomas Parish website in Melbourne:“St Thomas Parish is a catholic parish of the Malayalee faithful in the Syro-Malabar rite in Melbourne. Keralites, for various reasons have migrated to various parts of the world. They have found Melbourne also as good haven for living. Even if they are migrating they do not want to cut of from the homeland denying its entire rich heritage. They take their patrimony especially the faith traditions with them wherever they go. Ever since the number of catholic migrants increased in Melbourne they wished for a parish of their own.”
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What other name can there be? 😃

Anyway, I can’t any Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia even though there are at least 200,000 Malayalees in Malaysia (so I would imagine that there must be at least 10,000 Syro-Malabarese here). Would anyone know if there is a community in Malaysia and whether they have any liturgy separate from the Latin Rite?
 
jimkhong said:
What other name can there be? 😃

Anyway, I can’t any Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia even though there are at least 200,000 Malayalees in Malaysia (so I would imagine that there must be at least 10,000 Syro-Malabarese here). Would anyone know if there is a community in Malaysia and whether they have any liturgy separate from the Latin Rite?
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I saw a statistic that only 8% in Malaysia are Christian and of those 70% Catholic. I think any Syro-Malabar would be in the care of the Latin Church since there is no Eparchy there in Malaysia for Syro-Malabar. The Latins have 3 Archdioceses and 6 Dioceses.
 
Vico said:
I saw a statistic that only 8% in Malaysia are Christian and of those 70% Catholic. I think any Syro-Malabar would be in the care of the Latin Church since there is no Eparchy there in Malaysia for Syro-Malabar. The Latins have 3 Archdioceses and 6 Dioceses.
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No eparch and not even a priest. But I am sure there are Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia but I have not met one. I don’t even know where to look. There are several MarThomite and Syriac churches but none on the Catholic side. All our priests are Latin Rite and most have no knowledge about what Syro-Malabarese is (they may have heard of it if you say St Thomas Christians). I am sure that they take their sacraments in Latin churches or maybe, they switch over to Syriac or MarThomite. I would imagine there should be a group somewhere keen to preserve their traditions. I am still looking.
 
jimkhong said:
No eparch and not even a priest. But I am sure there are Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia but I have not met one. I don’t even know where to look. There are several MarThomite and Syriac churches but none on the Catholic side. All our priests are Latin Rite and most have no knowledge about what Syro-Malabarese is (they may have heard of it if you say St Thomas Christians). I am sure that they take their sacraments in Latin churches or maybe, they switch over to Syriac or MarThomite. I would imagine there should be a group somewhere keen to preserve their traditions. I am still looking.
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Annual Report of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Commission for
Evangelization and Pastoral Care of the Migrants
(Pontifical Report 2012)

Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong Other Cities of Asian Countries

There are around 1000 Syro-Malabar families settled in Singapore alone. People are very eager to get the service of Syro-Malabar priests for their pastoral needs. Now they are not getting any pastoral service as per the Syro-Malabar tradition. The Major Archbishop and the Chairman of the Commission have discussed with the local Bishop the possibility of appointing a full time Syro-Malabar priest for the pastoral care of our migrants in Singapore. But the local Ordinary has not yet accepted the request of the Community or the Commission for the appointment of a Syro-Malabar pastor in the country.

Similarly, in Hong Kong and Malayasia and other cities of Asian countries there are fairly big communities of our migrants. It is an urgent need to have at least

*Annual Report of the Activities of the Commission for Evangelization and
Pastoral Care of Migrants-August 2013
*

Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong Other Cities of Asian Countries

In Singapore alone there are around 1000 Syro-Malabar families settled there. People are very eager to get the service of Syro-Malabar priests for their pastoral needs. The Major Archbishop and the Chairman of the Commission have discussed with the newly appointed local Bishop the possibility of appointing a full time Syro-Malabar priest for the pastoral care of our migrants in Singapore. The new Bishop has more favourable approach to the Syro-Malabar community.

Similarly in Hong Kong and Malayasia and other cities of Asian countries there is a sizeable number of our migrants. It is an urgent need to have at least one Syro-Malabar priest, appointed as official chaplain in each of these countries. If Singapore and New Zealand could be included in the proposed eparchy of Australia it would be ideal.

cepcm.org/
 
Vico said:
Annual Report of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Commission for
Evangelization and Pastoral Care of the Migrants
(Pontifical Report 2012)

Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong Other Cities of Asian Countries

There are around 1000 Syro-Malabar families settled in Singapore alone. People are very eager to get the service of Syro-Malabar priests for their pastoral needs. Now they are not getting any pastoral service as per the Syro-Malabar tradition. The Major Archbishop and the Chairman of the Commission have discussed with the local Bishop the possibility of appointing a full time Syro-Malabar priest for the pastoral care of our migrants in Singapore. But the local Ordinary has not yet accepted the request of the Community or the Commission for the appointment of a Syro-Malabar pastor in the country.

Similarly, in Hong Kong and Malayasia and other cities of Asian countries there are fairly big communities of our migrants. It is an urgent need to have at least
​
Click to expand...

Good to note that they have not been forgotten. Thanks for digging it up. I estimate that there are four or five times the number of Syro-Malabarese families in Malaysia. Those in Malaysia & Singapore are not considered migrant families as they have been here for over a century and most have grandfathers born here (Grandmothers tend to be imported from India). Most in Hong Kong are likely migrant families with a very small number born in Hong Kong.

It is important to provide pastoral care to them in their own rite. Not only is it for them to preserve their identity as a people and ensure that they do not need to refer to Syriac and MarThomite churches for their sacraments (which incidentally are still rather different from theirs), it is also important for the Latins to understand that not all Catholics are Roman Catholics and to value other ways of being Catholics.​
 
mardukm said:
Is it just me, or is there a flurry of news about new bishops being installed for Oriental and Eastern Churches? I recall last year there was talk of what would be the result of the meeting of the non-Latin bishops with HH (I think it happened early December last year?). I recall some proclaiming rather sarcastically "NOTHING WILL HAPPEN. It will be just like the Middle East conference, whose primary concern was the dearth of much-needed bishops for the Oriental and Eastern faithful. Nothing happened then, and nothing will happen now."

I’m glad that their prognostications have been proven to be false!!!

Blessings
Click to expand...
Food for thought!
 
jimkhong said:
Good to note that they have not been forgotten. Thanks for digging it up. I estimate that there are four or five times the number of Syro-Malabarese families in Malaysia. Those in Malaysia & Singapore are not considered migrant families as they have been here for over a century and most have grandfathers born here (Grandmothers tend to be imported from India). Most in Hong Kong are likely migrant families with a very small number born in Hong Kong.

It is important to provide pastoral care to them in their own rite. Not only is it for them to preserve their identity as a people and ensure that they do not need to refer to Syriac and MarThomite churches for their sacraments (which incidentally are still rather different from theirs), it is also important for the Latins to understand that not all Catholics are Roman Catholics and to value other ways of being Catholics.
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It’s interesting to note that the report cited was dated 2012, which likely means that it included data through 2011, under the late Major-Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church. The current Major-Archbishop, Mar George, would I believe, be more likely to push for the presence of Syro-Malabar tradition. 🙂

In any case, from a non-Keralite point of view, the absence of dedicated Syro-Malabar churches in the Southeast Asian diaspora comes as no surprise. Rather, it seems to me to reflect a certain persistence of latinization. The SMC in Kerala is blessed with vocations, but many (if not most) are bi-ritual, so it’s likely that some of the Malayali clergy, even in Southeast Asia, are indeed Syro-Malabar.

One can see this also in the US, where a good number of them are “on loan” to various Latin dioceses. IOW, Syro-Malabar priests functioning almost exclusively as Latins. It’s not a new phenomenon, as it was the case long before the establishment of a Syro-Malabar Eparchy in the US and remains so. My guess (and it is merely a guess) is that the situation in Southeast Asia is similar.
 
malphono said:
The SMC in Kerala is blessed with vocations, but many (if not most) are bi-ritual, so it’s likely that some of the Malayali clergy, even in Southeast Asia, are indeed Syro-Malabar.

One can see this also in the US, where a good number of them are “on loan” to various Latin dioceses. IOW, Syro-Malabar priests functioning almost exclusively as Latins. It’s not a new phenomenon, as it was the case long before the establishment of a Syro-Malabar Eparchy in the US and remains so. My guess (and it is merely a guess) is that the situation in Southeast Asia is similar.
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If any of the Malayalee Catholic clergy in Malaysia are Syro-Malabarese, they have done a wonderful job in hiding themselves. The majority of Catholic Malayalee clergy carry Portugese names and not a Fr Thomas in sight :). In my diocese, I know many of them personally and they are all Latins. The Syro-Malabarese are just - invisible. I only knew about them from my reading. Only one Latin Malayalee have ever mentioned the Syro-Malabarese to me (and she didn’t use the term) and she was born in India. Really - it is amazing that the Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia just don’t exist and I am not sure if the Latin clergy here even care. Catholics in Malaysia assume that all Catholics are Roman Catholics. There is only one Malayalee majority parish in Malaysia and maybe I will check there.
 
jimkhong said:
If any of the Malayalee Catholic clergy in Malaysia are Syro-Malabarese, they have done a wonderful job in hiding themselves. The majority of Catholic Malayalee clergy carry Portugese names and not a Fr Thomas in sight :). In my diocese, I know many of them personally and they are all Latins. The Syro-Malabarese are just - invisible. I only knew about them from my reading. Only one Latin Malayalee have ever mentioned the Syro-Malabarese to me (and she didn’t use the term) and she was born in India. Really - it is amazing that the Syro-Malabarese in Malaysia just don’t exist and I am not sure if the Latin clergy here even care. Catholics in Malaysia assume that all Catholics are Roman Catholics. There is only one Malayalee majority parish in Malaysia and maybe I will check there.
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The “invisibility” is common in this country as well. In many cases, the true identity only surfaces where the congregation includes a few Syro-Malabars and/or it’s the priest’s anniversary or some such, when he will offer Holy Qurbaba according to the Syro-Malabar tradition as an exception. I recall from some years ago one Latin parish (with no Malayali members) that had a Malayali priest as an assistant (or “associate”), but the fact that he was SMC didn’t come to light until at least 5 years after he was transferred.
 
malphono said:
The “invisibility” is common in this country as well. In many cases, the true identity only surfaces where the congregation includes a few Syro-Malabars and/or it’s the priest’s anniversary or some such, when he will offer Holy Qurbaba according to the Syro-Malabar tradition as an exception. I recall from some years ago one Latin parish (with no Malayali members) that had a Malayali priest as an assistant (or “associate”), but the fact that he was SMC didn’t come to light until at least 5 years after he was transferred.
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I can confidently state that the Malayalee Catholic clergy in Malaysia are all Latins. Only a minority of Malayalee Catholics in Malaysia carry Malayalee names, and many of these are recent converts. The majority are Rozario, Fernandez, Gomez, Pereira, Lopez, etc - all Latins. When I say invisible, I don’t mean ‘hidden’, they are just not there. Believe me, if I meet a Catholic with a Malayee name and a ‘Thomas’, I always check. Not very scientific but there really is nothing to go on.

Mine is not a very big diocese - just about 60 priests, half of whom are Indians with Tamils being about 80-90% of them. Altogether, there are 150 priests among the three dioceses where Malayalees can be found. So, not all that many Malayalee priests.
 
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