The development of Syro Malabar Church in Dublin Ireland, is a notable milestone in the history of Syro Malabar Church. From the beginning of the year 2000 itself Syro Malabar faithful migrated to Dublin in big numbers. Initially the religious needs of this community were guided by Rev.Fr.Sony Palathara, Fr.Francisco,  Fr.Sebastian Koodapattu etc…, who generously donated their time during their studies in Ireland. At that stage around 300 families were attending various religious services which were based at Tallaght and Drumcondra. Acknowledging the religious needs, as well as, the requests of our Community, Dublin Archbishop Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin together with Cardinal Mar. Varkey Vithayathil , Major Archbishop of Syro Malabar Church in Kerala, India, decided to appoint two chaplains for this community.

Syro Malabar Catholic Community in Ireland was officially started in July 2006 under the religious leadership of appointed chaplains Rev.Fr. Mathew Arackaparampil and Rev. Fr. Thankachan Paul Njaliath. The need for the development of Syro Malabar church in Ireland apparently arose, due to increasing migration of its members especially, those who are in Health sector and IT field to Ireland since the year 2000. Rev. Fr. Thankachan Paul Njaliath got transferred from Dublin and went back to Kerala on 30^th January 2012. Rt. Rev. Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin,  appointed  Rev. Fr. Manoj Ponkattil  as the Chaplain of Syro Malabar Community in Dublin, with the consent of Mar George Alencherry, the Major Archbishop of Syro Malabar Church.

Later Fr. Jose Bharanikulangara was appointed SMC chaplain followed by Fr. Antony Cheeramvelil MST. Fr. Clement Padathiparambil joined the chaplaincy on 7th December 2017. Upon the departure of Fr. Jose Bharanikulangara and Fr. Antony Cheeramvelil on 1 September 2019, Fr. Rajesh Mechirakath became the new chaplain. Fr. Roy Vattakkatt came in the month of January 2019 as the new chaplain.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin will be remembered in the history of the Syro-Malabar Church as one of the shepherds who knew how to give pastoral care for the migrants by welcoming, protecting, promoting and integrating them. He knew the heart of the migrants especially the Syro-Malabar migrants, as he has seen the pains and panics, fret and frustrations, the trials and tribulations of this community during his long diplomatic career in different countries. Since his appointment as Archbishop his welcoming and cordial approach to the Syro-Malabar Church has given great hope and profound optimism for the bishops, priests, religious and faithful of the Syro-Malabar Church.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has shown great interest and deep commitment to the pastoral care of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Faithful in Ireland as envisaged by the laws and norms of the Catholic Church by accommodating three priests for the pastoral care in 9 mass centers having more than 1000 families and by providing a pastoral centre (priests’ residence) and churches for spiritual and liturgical needs.

On this propitious occasion, we extend our sincere appreciation for what you have been to us. May the good Lord bless you in the coming years with health and happiness.

Previous Chaplains

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the 22 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 sui juris 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 St. Thomas Christians (Nazranis)

The Syro-Malabar Church is an Apostolic Church which traces its origin to the St. Thomas, the Apostle, who landed at Cranganore (Muziris) in 52 AD and founded seven Christian communities in Kerala, at Palayur, Cranganore, Kokkamangalam, Kottakavu (Parur), Quilon, Niranam, and Chayal. St. Thomas was martyred in A.D. 72 at Mylapore, near Chennai/Madras. 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.

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 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 Syro-Malabar Church, a name which became a common epithet only in the nineteenth century. It literally means Syrian Christians of the Malabar Coast (Kerala).

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. Last 40 years have been a period of steady growth for the Syro-Malabar 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 with the title of Ernakulam-Angamaly. 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. In his place Archbishop Varkey Vithayathil, C.Ss.R. was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator. 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.

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.

At present there are five Archdioceses – Ernakulam-Angamaly, Changanacherry, Trichur, Tellicherry and Kottayam and 13 eparchies – Bhadravathi, Belthangady, Irinjalakuda, Kanjirapally, Kothamangalam, Idukki, Mananthavady, Mandya, Palai, Palghat, Ramanathaapuram, Thamarassery, and Thuckalay within the canonical territory of the Major Archiepiscopal Church and 12 eparchies outside, of which Adilabad, Bijnor, Chanda, Gorakhpur, Jagdalpur, Kalyan, Rajkot, Sagar, Satna, and Ujjain in India are with exclusive jurisdiction and Kalyan and Faridabad in India and the St. Thomas Eparchy of Chicago in the United States of America enjoy personal jurisdiction.. There are altogether 4018204 (4 million) Syro-Malabarians within the 30 Syro-Malabar Eparchies and approximately 5,85,900 members live as migrants outside any Syro-Malabar Eparchy. There are 47 Bishops, 8547 priests (3,556 diocesan and 4,991 religious), and 32,114 women religious and 1214 major seminarians. Many Bishops, priests, religious and laity of the Syro-Malabar Church are present all over the world and share in missionary and pastoral life of the sister Churches.

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.