The Syro-Malabar Church is celebrating the Feast of Dukrana as Sabhadinam, with a special focus on the significance of St. Thomas the Apostle in their faith and the establishment of the church. In honor of this occasion, Cardinal George Alencherry, the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, has published a pastoral letter.

Letter in deteail:

Dearly beloved brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,

We are celebrating the Feast of Dukrana as Sabhadinam as we did before. The corner stone of our faith as well as of the Church is the proclamation, “My Lord and My God” of St. Thomas the Apostle, his missionary trip to India for evangelization and the martyrdom he embraced to bear witness to his faith. May the celebration of the feast this year help us to thank the Providence which guided St. Thomas the Apostle to proclaim the salvific message in India and to pray for a deepening of our faith to face boldly the challenges raised by our age, by receiving energy from the witness of his life. Let me share a few thoughts that help us for such a witness through this Pastoral Letter. The main theme of our celebration of the feast last year was the 1950th anniversary of martyrdom of St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 72 at Chinnamala, Madras. We celebrated the event in different levels throughout last year. The focus of this year’s celebration is the centenary of the establishment of the SyroMalabar Hierarchy. This Church that was established by St. Thomas the Apostle started its growth in the native culture of the land and later attained its liturgical and organizational growth through its contact with the Persian Church.

Later, we were led to the Coonan Cross episode on account of the Synod of Diamper which brought the Church under the organizational structure of the Latin Church. Even in those critical times, we remained faithful to the Apostolic See. It was Leo XIII of venerable memory who separated the Syrian Catholics from the Latin rite jurisdiction by establishing the vicariates of Trichur and Kottayam in 1887. In 1896, the Vicariate of Ernakulam was created from the Vicariates of Trichur and Kottayam and Kottayam Vicariate was renamed as Changanacherry Vicariate. In that year, native Bishops were appointed in the three Vicariates of Trichur, Changanacherry and Ernakulam. Kottayam Vicariate was established for Knanaya Catholics in 1911. Pope Pius XI established the Syro-Malabar hierarchy on 21 December 1923, completing this hierarchical organization by erecting the Vicariate of Ernakulam as an Archeparchy with Trichur, Changanacherry and Kottayam as its suffragan Eparchies.

Now we are celebrating the centenary of this historical event which became an important milestone in the history of our Church. In the later years, the Apostolic See took steps to accelerate the development of our Church. In 1956, the Eparchy of Changanacherry was made an Archeparchy. New Eparchies were created in Kerala and outside of Kerala. As per the Canon Law for the Eastern Churches which was promulgated in 1990, Pope St. John Paul II elevated the Syro-Malabar Church as a Major Archiepiscopal Church in December 1992 and appointed Mar Antony Padiyara as the first Major Archbishop. Later in 1995, the Eparchies of Trichur and Tellicherry were raised as Archeparchies. New Eparchies were created in India and outside.

On October 10, 2017, His Holiness Pope Francis extended the jurisdiction of the SyroMalabar Church to the whole of India by giving it the right of evangelization and pastoral care to the entire territory of India. We shall thank the Lord for this great development of the Church from its position in 1923 to that in 2023 with 31 Eparchies in India, four outside India including an Apostolic Visitation. It is also a fact that the Church has grown in its spirituality along with its hierarchical development. This development has been possible because of the concerted effort of Bishops, priests, the religious and the laity.

The decisions made in the Synod of June 2023 are helpful for giving a new orientation for the growth of the Church, strengthening its missionary efforts and coordinating the various ministries of the Church. When the decisions of the Synod are approved by the Apostolic See, our Church will enter a new phase of development. We shall go forward with confidence by entrusting ourselves to the providence of God, holding fast to our traditions of the faith and strengthening the Oriental structure of the Church. We, the Bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay persons have to work with great loyalty and cooperation to the Holy Father, when we live as a Particular Church in the communion of the Universal Church. Everyone has to strive to practice synodality in all the aspects of the Church. What the Holy Father intends by walking together is a life style of thinking together, communicating and working in unity. We shall strive to strengthen the unity of the Church with grace of God and the cooperation and the love of the faithful.

In this context, I want to emphasize a special matter. The Syro-Malabar Church is spreading from Kerala to different States in India and from India to different countries of the world. The number of people moving from Kerala, after their school education, to foreign countries for higher education and jobs is increasing by leaps and bounds. They then settle down in these counties. It is to cater for their pastoral needs that Eparchies have been established in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia and the Apostolic Visitation in Europe. In order to strengthen the pastoral care for these individuals and families from the Mother Church, the Eparchies in India and outside have to work together to create new pastoral projects. Let me urge those who settle abroad, being the members of the Syro-Malabar Church, to create in the members of their families the loyalty to our Church, safe guard our traditions, follow the liturgical celebrations and practices and to impart faith formation in our Church communities.

I would like to share also some thoughts on the challenges faced today in the society in living our faith and undertaking various activities. The challenges faced by the Christians and their organizations in different areas of life are many. Every Christian is bound to proclaim the faith on account of the appeal of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the good news to all creation” (Mk 16:15). We have to realize that there will be no Church if there is no proclamation of the Gospel. No one can prevent a person from accepting the faith that he has received, having been attracted by the Gospel proclaimed. For it is not merely a human decision but a plan of God also. As we read in the Gospel of John, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (Jn. 6:44). The history of the martyrs reminds us that persecutions or threats have no power to dissuade a believer from his convictions. The words of St. Paul who has suffered much for the preaching of the Gospel are very appropriate to be borne in our hearts at this moment: “For I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor powers, neither height nor depth nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God that comes to us in Christ Jesus, our Lord (Rom 8: 38-39). The 21 Egyptian Christians who were martyred on the shores of Libya by the ISIS terrorists, the hundreds of Christians who were martyred by the same group in Iraq and Syria, the Christian faithful who are persecuted and killed in the northern India and especially in Manipur, all remind us that no power on earth can dissuade a believer from his attachment to Christ.

We should not desist from our activities that promote the common good of the society despite these organized provocations and protests. In these contexts, it should be possible for us to keep our faith without any diffidence and to lead our Christian lives with kindness and love and to bear witness to Jesus in our daily life. Our faith compels us to deal with those who persecute us with mercy. At the same time, it is the need of the hour for us to be extremely vigilant by making effective the services of our institutions and organizations and by avoiding all failures and pit-falls.

We shall lead our life of faith with great boldness following in the footsteps of St. Thomas the Apostle who is our model and inspiration, through his preaching and martyrdom. The following words of Jesus may inspire us in all crises and difficulties: “I tell you all this that in me you may find peace. You will suffer in the world. But take courage! I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). I wish all of you the blessings of the Feast of Dukarana and of the Sabhadinam. May the intercession and blessings of our beloved Mother Mary, St. Joseph, St. Thomas the Apostle and of all Saints and the Blessedes be with us and with our activities.