Eastern Rite - Syro-Malabar Church

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple (also The Meeting of the Lord, or Hypapante), 40 days after His sacred birth. It is also the Feast of the Holy Martyr Agathadorus of Tyana in Cappadocia.

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The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, or Church of Malabar Syrian Catholics (Syriac: ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܩܵܬܘܿܠܝܼܩܝܼ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ‎‎, romanized:Edta Qatholiqi D'Malabar Suryaya; Latin: Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium, lit. "Church of the Malabar Syrians"), is an Eastern Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church based in Kerala, India. It is an autonomous (in Latin, sui iuris) particular church in full communion with the Pope of Rome and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Church is headed by the Metropolitan and Gate of all India Major Archbishop George, Cardinal Alencherry. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. Officially known as the Syro-Malabar Church, Syro-Malabar is a prefix coined from the words Syriac as the church employs the East Syriac Rite liturgy, and Malabar which is the historical name for modern Kerala. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.

Founded by St Thomas the Apostle, the Church consists of the Major Archbishop, There are 35 eparchies (dioceses). Five of them are Archeparchies (of major archbishop) at present, all in southern India: Ernakulam-Angamaly, Changanacherry, Trichur, Tellicherry, and Kottayam.

These have another 13 suffragan eparchies: Bhadravathi, Belthangady, Irinjalakuda, Kanjirapally, Kothamangalam, Idukki, Mananthavady, Mandya, Palai, Palghat, Ramanathapuram, Thamarassery, and Thuckalay within the canonical territory of the Major Archiepiscopal Church.

There are 13 further eparchies outside the canonical territory of which Adilabad, Bijnor, Chanda, Gorakhpur, Jagdalpur, Kalyan, Rajkot, Sagar, Satna, Faridabad, Hosur, Shamsabad, and Ujjain in India are with exclusive jurisdiction. The St. Thomas Eparchy of Chicago in the United States, St. Thomas the Apostle Eparchy of Melbourne in Australia, Eparchy of Great Britain, and Eparchy of Mississauga, Canada enjoy personal jurisdiction.^[50]

Proper Ecclesiastical provinces

Most believers of this church are organized under five metropolitan archeparchies (archdioceses), all in Kerala, and their suffragan eparchies

• Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly
  • Eparchy of Idukki
  • Eparchy of Kothamangalam
• Metropolitan Archeparchy Changanassery
  • Eparchy of Kanjirappally
  • Eparchy of Palai
  • Eparchy of Thuckalay
• Metropolitan Archeparchy of Kottayam (Exclusively for the Knanaya Catholic faithful)
• Metropolitan Archeparchy of Tellicherry
  • Eparchy of Belthangady
  • Eparchy of Bhadravathi
  • Eparchy of Mananthavady
  • Eparchy of Mandya
  • Eparchy of Thamarassery
• Metropolitan Archeparchy of Thrissur
  • Eparchy of Irinjalakuda
  • Eparchy of Palghat
  • Eparchy of Ramanathapuram

Eparchies Outside Kerala

• Eparchy of Bijnor
• Eparchy of Gorakhpur
• Eparchy of Sagar
• Eparchy of Satna
• Eparchy of Ujjain
• Eparchy of Kalyan
• Eparchy of Rajkot
• Eparchy of Adilabad
• Eparchy of Chanda
• Eparchy of Jagdalpur
• Eparchy of Shamshabad

Exempt jurisdictions

• Eparchy of Faridabad, near Delhi, also serves Haryana, (Indian) Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Uttar Pradesh
• Eparchy of Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, established October 2017^[51]
• Eparchy of Shamshabad, includes the entire country of India not included in existing eparchies, established October 2017^[51]

Outside India:

• Eparchy of Mississauga, for Canada
• Eparchy of Melbourne, for Australia
• Eparchy of Chicago, for the USA
• Eparchy of Great Britain in Preston, England for England, Wales & Scotland

Statistics for individual Dioceses may be found on the Catholic-Hierarchy.org website by clicking on the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Current Dioceses) page and selecting the individual Diocese desired.