The Eparchy of Pathanamthitta is a

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...

ecclesiastical territory or

eparchy 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 th ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The diocese was created by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 25 January 2010.

Yoohanon Chrysostom Yoohanon Chrysostom Kalloor (born 19 May 1944) was the second bishop of the Eparchy of Marthandom (1998–2010) and first bishop of the Eparchy of Pathanamthitta (2010–2019) of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He retired from Pathanamthitta ...

became the first and current

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 ...

St. Peter’s Malankara Catholic Church
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 ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37 ...

serves as the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

church. The Eparchy of Pathanamthitta is a suffragan eparchy in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

of the

metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Archeparchy of Trivandrum.

History

The Syro-Malankara Catholics are one of the oldest

Saint Thomas Christians The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an ethno-religious An ethnoreligious group (or an ethno-religious group) is a grouping of ...

centered in Kerala, India. In the 16th century, the Church in the West came in contact with the Indian Church through the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

merchants A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as industry ...

and

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

. But the relationship was fragile and several conflicts evolved among them, which later resulted in the

Coonan Cross Oath The Coonan Cross Oath ( mal, കൂനൻ കുരിശ് സത്യം, Kūnan Kuriśŭ Satiaṁ), also known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross, the Leaning Cross Oath or the Oath of the Slanting Cross, taken on 3 January 1653 in Mattanch ...

. The majority of them restored ecclesial relationship with the Portuguese hierarchy (

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 ...

) and the rest formed themselves into an independent ecclesial community and gradually got into an ecclesial relationship with the ancient Church of the Antioch. Later, on 20 September 1930, a group headed by

Geevarghese Ivanios Geevarghese Ivanios (born 21 September 1882 as Geevarghese Panickeruveetil - died 15 July 1953) was the first metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum. He was the founder of Bethany Ashr ...

lead the reunion movement and returned to the

. The

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

Eparchy of Trivandrum was inaugurated on 11 May 1933 and

was installed as its first

. To cope up with the tremendous growth of the church the

Major Archeparchy of Trivandrum The Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archeparchy of Trivandrum is a Syro-Malankara Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or major archeparchy of the Catholic Church in Trivandrum, India. Baselios Cleemis, the Major Archbishop-Catholicos of th ...

was ramified and a new Eparchy of Pathanamthitta was formed.

Statistics

As of 2021 there are 100 parishes in the Diocese and the number of priests incardinated is 120.The diocese has about 80 seminarians pursuing different grades in their priestly formation.The diocese possesses 10,000 families of Catholic faithful in its territory. A bigger part of the malankara global diaspora comes from this diocese. The diocesan area is basically hilly in nature including a considerable number of tribal colonies. The Exarcate of the United States got its first bishop Thomas Eusebius from the Sacred Heart Malankara Catholic Church in

Mylapra Mylapra is a village in Pathanamthitta district in the Indian state of Kerala. It comes under the Mylapra Panchayath. It is on the way to the famous Hindu pilgrim center of Sabarimala. The Main Eastern Highway (Punalur– Pathanamthitta&nd ...

the Eparch of Pathanamthitta.

Curia members

The Heads of Various Apostolic Services

Parishes

Gallery

File:Pta Inauguration.JPG, Inauguration of the Eparchy File:Pastoral Centre.jpg, Inauguration of the 'UPASANA' Pastoral Centre,Omalloor File:Ordination at church.JPG, Ordination of priests held at S H Church, Mylapra File:Msg Curia.JPG,

with Curia Members

References

http://pathanamthittadiocese.com

External links

Official Website of the Eparchy of Pathanamthitta

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy Of Pathanamthitta Syro-Malankara Catholic dioceses Dioceses in Kerala Dioceses established in the 21st century Christian organizations established in 2010 2010 establishments in Kerala Churches in Pathanamthitta district