By Verghese V Joseph.
Kochi: The prominent Syro-Malabar Church, which has five million adherents both in India and beyond, installed Catholic Bishop Raphael Thattil as a Major Archbishop on Thursday. A religious service was organised to honour the elevation at Saint Thomas Mount in Kakkanad, near Kochi. The installation ceremony was led by Curia Bishop Sebastian Vaniyappurackal and attended by archbishops from the four archeparchies of the Syro-Malabar Church.
A letter from Pope Francis to Thattil verifying his canonical election as Major Archbishop was read aloud at the ceremony, which lasted about 45 minutes. The ordination and installation of Thattil as the new Major Archbishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, the seat of the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, took place a day after the Church announced Thattil’s election. In attendance were representatives of the Vatican, bishops of eparchies, and a few priests from the Syro-Malabar Church.
Bishop Sebastian Vaniyapurackal presided over the assembly, which was limited to the Synod Fathers, Superior Generals, and other distinguished visitors. The eparchies’ lay and religious representatives were not present. Live broadcasting of the Holy Qurbana ceremony and celebration was available to the public.
In his letter of confirmation from Rome, Pope Francis said to Raphael Thattil, “I have received the letter with which, according to canon 153 §2 of the Codex Canonum Ecclesiarum Orientalium , you petitioned the Roman Pontiff to confirm your canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church as Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Father and Head of this beloved Church sui juris.”
The Pontiff further stated, “Please know that I willingly grant the confirmation you have requested and express my fraternal good wishes in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God. I pray that, after the example of your venerable predecessors, you may strive to offer a generous and fruitful pastoral ministry to the flock now entrusted to your care. I likewise urge you, especially, to remember the poor and those most in need. May the Holy Spirit foster the unity, fidelity, and mission of the Syro-Malabar Church so that it may grow and flourish under your paternal guidance.”
“In extending my cordial greetings to the Brother Members of the Synod, to the clergy, men and women religious, seminarians and candidates for consecrated life, and to the lay faithful of the Syro-Malabar Church, I invoke the intercession of the Holy Mother of God, the Holy Patriarch Saint Joseph and the Apostle Saint Thomas. To all of you, I impart my Blessing, as I assure you of my spiritual closeness and ask that you, please, pray for me,” the Holy Father added.
Thattil was elected recently during the Synod meeting held at Saint Thomas Mount in Kakkanad. He is the fourth head of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the 23 Eastern (Oriental) Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. The 67-year-old succeeds Cardinal Mar George Alenchery, who resigned from the post of Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese last month. Before his election, Thattil had been the Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad in Telangana since October 2017.
“The election was formally announced simultaneously at the Vatican and Major Archiepiscopal Curia at Mount St Thomas at Kakkanad,” a statement issued by the Church on Wednesday said. Bishop Raphael Thattil, 67, was born in Thrissur. He was ordained a priest in 1980 by Mar Joseph Kundukulam, in Dolours Basilica, Thrissur, the statement added.
May the Holy Spirit guide the new Eparch of the Syro-Malabar Church, Mar Raphael Thattil to swiftly lead the SM Church away from the controversy-ridden path it has trodden in recent times to pastures fresh and green. And in the new atmosphere that follows, may the Holy Qurbana, celebrated both in the Synod approved manner as well as in the manner of choice of a certain diocese, become once again a source and sign of diversity in manner worship and of unbreakable unity in the Catholic Communion.