The Eparchy of Great Britain is the sole
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
, native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg
, caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...
ecclesiastical territory or
eparchy of the
Catholic Church in
Great Britain. Its
cathedral is
Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in the
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
of
Preston, Lancashire.
This eparchy is not part of any
ecclesiastical province and is
exempt immediately to the
Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church and the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches. It has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in the entirety of Great Britain:
England,
Scotland and
Wales (the United Kingdom minus Northern Ireland). Most of the members of the church are
British Indians
British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...
with heritage in
Kerala, where the Syro-Malabar Church is based.
The British eparchy, established in 2016, is the church's fourth diocesan jurisdiction outside
India, after the eparchies of
Mississauga
Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...
(Canada),
Chicago (US) and
Melbourne (Australia). The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church also has an
Apostolic Visitor for
Europe based in
Rome, Bishop Mar Stephen Chirapanath who oversee and liaison the pastoral missions and mass centres in other parts of Europe including
Northern Ireland.
Location and structure
It has chaplains (mostly Indian) in territory overlapping 22 British
Latin Catholic dioceses, a national coordination council and eight diocesan departments: Liturgy, Finance, Catechism, Faith Formation, Lay Association, Resolution Committee and Youth Association. Its first and present
eparch
Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on t ...
is
Joseph Srampickal.
"Great Britain’s first Indian Syrian Catholic Bishop ordained in front of 12,000-strong crowd at Preston"
British South Indians, October 9, 2016.
See also
* List of Catholic dioceses in Great Britain
The Catholic dioceses in Great Britain are organised by two separate hierarchies: the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and the Catholic Church in Scotland. Within Great Britain, the Catholic Church of England and Wales has five province ...
References
Sources and external links
GCatholic.org
Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Britain, Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy
Syro-Malabar Catholic dioceses
Eastern Catholicism in the United Kingdom
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
Dioceses in the United Kingdom
Religious organizations established in 2016
Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, tran ...
Dioceses established in the 21st century
Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom