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Blessed MotherTheresa Syro-Malabar Mission of Ottawa.''' ''' Blessed MotherTheresa Syro-Malabar Mission of Ottawa is a pastoral care center for the Syro-Malabar faithful in Ottawa. It is a fulfillment of a dream of the faithful of Kerala origin migrated from various parts of the world to Ottawa. Even though it is a Syro-Malabar Rite mission Centre, all faithful of various rites are welcomed to join the holy Qurbana.

History:

The SyroMalabar Church is an Apostolic Church which traces its origin to the St. Thomas, the Apostle, who landed at Cranganore, Kerala (Muziris) in 52 AD and founded seven Christian communities in Kerala, at palayur, Cranganore, Quilon, Niranam and Chayal. St Thomas was martyred in A D 72 at Mylapore, near Madras presently called Chennai. The early Christian community in India was known as St. Thomas Christians. They were also called “Nazranis”, meaning those who follow the path of Jesus of Nazareth

The East Syrian (Chaldean) Connection

From early centuries, the Church of St. Thomas Christians came into contact with the East Syrian Church, which also traces its origin to Apostle Thomas. From the 4th century until the end of the 16th century Thomas Christians were governed by Bishops who were appointed and sent by the Patriarch of the East Syrian Church. The Thomas Christians developed a unique system of ecclesiastical administration with the Bishops from Persia in charge of liturgical and spiritual matters and the local Archdeacon of All India (A priest) heading the Christian community and handling the administration of the Church through Palliyogam (early form of Synod).Thus the Thomas Christians shared the liturgical, theological, spiritual and other ecclesiastical traditions with the East Syrian Church; in socio-cultural organization and practices, however, they were distinctively Indian.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the 23 Catholic Churches which forms universal Catholic Church. Eastern (Oriental) Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. It is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church after the Ukrainian Church and the largest of the Saint Thomas Christian (Nazrani) denominations with 4.6 million believers. It is a suijuris Church governed by the Synod of Bishops headed by the Major Archbishop. The Syro-Malabar Church, with its deep-rooted spirituality and high rate of vocations to priesthood and religious life, can be considered as the most vibrant Catholic community in the world.

'''The Arrival of Portuguese and the Influence of the Latin Church ''' The arrival of the Portuguese in the 16th Century marks a new era in the life of the Thomas Christians. East Syrian Bishops stopped coming. Archdeacon lost his position and Latin Prelates exercised full authority over ecclesiastical administration for almost three centuries. This paved way for the Latinization of liturgy and ecclesiastical administration. Following the Coonan Cross oath in 1653 and the introduction of the Padroado (the Portuguese jurisdiction under the Propaganda Congregation) in 1661, the Thomas Christians got divided into two groups, of which the group who resisted Latin rule formed a separate community under the Archdeacon. Later they accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of the West Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and came to be known as the Jacobite Church. They were further divided into several independent Churches. The group that remained faithful to Rome came to be known as SyroMalabar Church, a name which became a common epithet only in the nineteenth century. It literally means Syrian Christians of the Malabar Coast (Kerala).

The Syro-Malabar Church

In 1886 the Padroado jurisdiction over the whole Malabar (Kerala) was suppressed and in 1887 Pope Leo XIII re-organized the Syro-Malabar Catholics into two independent Vicariates of Kottayam and Trissur. Finally, the Syro-Malabar Church obtained bishops of their own rites and nationality in 1896, when they were further reorganized into three vicariates of Trissur, Changanacherry and Ernakulam by Pope Leo XIII through his Brief Quae rei Sacrae. Later, the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy was established on December 21, 1923, by the Apostolic Constitution Romani Pontifices of Pope Pius XI (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 16 [1924], pp. 257-262), with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See and Trichur, Changanacherry and Kottayam (established in 1911 for the Southists) as suffragans. In 1956 Changanacherry was raised to the status of a Metropolitan See, with Pala as a suffragan diocese. The restoration of the hierarchy initiated a process of liturgical reform that sought to restore the oriental identity of the Latinized Syro-Malabar rite, which was approved by Pius XII in 1957 and introduced in 1962. In subsequent years several new dioceses were established both within and outside Kerala. From 1962, the Church began to set up mission centers in Northern India, which later became dioceses. Since then the church saw a steady growth in and out of India.

The Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church

On December 16, 1992, Pope John Paul II, by the Apostolic Constitution Quae maiori (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, 85[1993], pp. 398-399), raised the Syro-Malabar Church to the status of Major Archiepiscopal sui iuris Church. Mar Antony Paidyara, the then Metropolitan of Ernakulam was appointed its First Major Archbishop with Mar Abraham Kattumana as the Pontifical Delegate who discharged the duties of the Major Archbishop. Archbishop Kattumana died unexpectedly during his visit to Rome in April 1995 and Mar Padiyara was given the powers of the Major Archbishop. In November 1996 Cardinal Padiyara resigned from his office as Major Archbishop and Archbishop Varkey Vithayathil, C.Ss.R. was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator and in December 1998 he was appointed Major Archbishop by the Pope. In February 2001 Archbishop Vithayathil was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II. In 2004, the Holy See granted full administrative powers to the Syro-Malabar Church, including the power to elect bishops. Major Archbishop Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil passed away on Arpil 1, 2011. On 24 May 2011 Mar George Alencherry was elected Major Archbishop. Pope Benedict XVI confirmed the election on 25 May 2011. He is the first head of the Syro-Malabar Church to be elected by its Synod. On February 18, 2012 Major Archbishop George Alencherry was made Cardinal and a member of the Consistory.

The Syro-Malabar Church Today

Today the Syro-Malabar Church is the second largest Eastern Church in Catholic communion and constitutes the largest group of St. Thomas Christians. The other two Catholic Churches in India are the Latin Church and the Syro-Malankara Church. The Syro-Malabar Church has: •	5 Archeparchies and 26 Eparchies •	18 of them (5 Archeparchies and 13 Eparchies) in 'Canonical Territory' (Kerala, and parts of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka) and under the proper jurisdiction of the Major Archbishop •	9 Eparchies in various Indian states with exclusive Syro-Malabar jurisdiction. •	2 Eparchies - Kalyan and Faridabad in India - where there are multiple jurisdictions. •	2 Eparchies for Syro-Malabar faithful in USA and Australia •	1 Apostolic Exarchate for the Syro-Malabar faithful in Canada The Syro-Malabar Church is very actively involved in educational, social and health-related fields. The Syro-Malabar Church runs 4860 educational, 262 ecclesiastical and 2614 health and charitable institutions. The corporate contribution of the of the Syro-Malabar Church to nation-building is inestimable.

The Syro-Malabar Exarchate for Canada

On August 6, 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis has erected the Apostolic Exarchate for Syro-Malabar faithful in Canada, with its See in Mississauga (Ontario), and has appointed Reverend Jose Kalluvelil, as its first Apostolic Exarch. Previously, the Syro-Malabar Catholics of the country were part of the Eparchy for Syro-Malabarian Catholics in Canada and the United States which was erected in 2001. The new Exarchate has 18 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 18,000

Syro-Malabar Qurbana in Ottawa

There were migrations of the faithful of Syro-Malabar Church from India (especially Kerala) from the late 1960 onward. Migration of Syro-Malabar Catholics to Ottawa also started at the same time. Like many other places, they organized themselves into small communities gathering occasionally to cherish their spiritual and cultural life under the leadership of Syro-Malabar Priests working or studying in Ottawa. In Ottawa, Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa Roman Catholic Archdiocese allowed the community to use the facilities of St Brigid's Roman Catholic Parish (now Saint Brigid's Centre for the Arts) located in the Lower Town neighborhood of Ottawa to gather, pray and offer Qurbana. A fire at the church led the community to move from the St Brigid’s and they used the Holy Rosary Parish, St John the Apostle Parish, and finally St. Maurice parish for over two decades for prayers, retreat, and Holy Qurbana.

Blessed MotherTheresa Syro-Malabar Mission of Ottawa.

The small Syro-Malabar catholic community in Ottawa which took baby steps to celebrate Holy Qurbana with a small handwritten book grew significantly in the last 4 decades. Acknowledging the deep desire for a parish mission with regular Qurbana and opportunity for spiritual development, Archb≥ishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa and Bishop Jose kalluvelil of Syro-Malabar Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Canada held discussions on how to help the Syro-Malabar faithful in in their desire for a mission Ottawa. Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa decided to allow St John the apostle parish for regular Sunday Qurbana and catechism classes. A new vicar (pastor), Fr. George Danavelil has been appointed to lead the community’s spiritual needs of the mission. The mission is formally called Blessed Mothertheresa Syro-Malabar mission of Ottawa.

Ref: http://www.stthomasdiocese.org/syromalabar-church http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/ http://www.syromalabar.ca/ Bharatha Sabhacharithram by Rev Dr. Xavier Koodapuzha