The head of the Syro-Malabar Church has expressed concern at the “fall” in India’s Christian population, warning that this weakens the Church’s public presence. Source: The Tablet.
“The alarming rate of migration to foreign countries by community members [is] leading some into significant debt while their absence [is] being felt by the Church in India,” Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil said, urging Christians to engage with economic concerns and work to create employment.
While agriculture is often considered unprofitable, the prelate said there were models created by dioceses that generate revenue and employment for the community. His statement declared 2026 the “Community Empowerment Year” to promote self-reliance and development.
The statement followed the conclusion of the first session of the 34th Syro-Malabar Episcopal Synod, the Church’s supreme authority, held on January 6-10 at Mount St Thomas, Kakkanad, in Kerala’s Ernakulam district.
Archbishop Thattil said the challenges to the Syro-Malabar Church – one of the 23 Eastern-rite Churches in communion with Rome – had a deeper spiritual dimension than mere administrative concerns.
The Synod reiterated its decision that the “uniform mode” of the Holy Qurbana, the Syro-Malabar Mass, which it approved in 2021 with endorsement from the Holy See, will continue without change across all dioceses except the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archeparchy, where there were sustained protests against its introduction.
Ernakulam-Angamaly, the Church’s primatial see, is considered a “liturgical exception” with one Mass in the uniform mode – with the priest ad orientem during the Eucharistic rite – required on Sundays and feast days while other Masses continue with the priest versus populum. The Church authorities appealed to protesters to reconcile with them on the issue of the uniform mode.
Archbishop Thattil also condemned the increasing hate-crimes against the community. He noted with concern the attacks and vandalism across India during the Christmas season, causing fear and anxiety among Christians.
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Syro-Malabar head alarmed by Christian emigration from India (By Rita Joseph, The Tablet)
