EPARCHY OF SHAMSHABAD
The diocese of Shamshabad was erected on 10th October 2017 by His Holiness Pope Francis. The new diocese was inagurated on 7th January 2018. Pope appointed Mar Raphael Thattil as the first bishop of Shamshabad. It is the largest diocese in India. Diocese of Shamshabad shares its boundary with 75 dioceses. The eparchy is dedicated to St. Thomas, the apostle and its co patron is St. John Paul II. Shamshabad diocese covers 23 states and 4 union territoires including 2 islands
Syro-Malabar Church History
The Syro-Malabar Church is one among the Catholic Sui Iuris Churches. This is the most ancient among the Catholic Churches in India founded by Apostle Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus, who arrived in India (Kerala) in 52 AD and died at Mylapore (Madras) in 72 AD. This Church is in full communion with the Pope but has the authority for self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. In India we have three Churches in Catholic communion such as Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Latin. It is the third-largest particular church (sui iuris) in the Catholic Church after the Latin and Ukrainian Catholic Churches.
St. Thomas the Apostle, following the command of Jesus, started his mission from Kodungallur and Palayur, founding 7 churches/communities in Kerala before his martyrdom. According to the tradition he appointed Kepha as the head of the Church in India at Kodungallur and Paul as bishop at Mylapore. The Christians in India had relations with the Church of Persia and later began to receive bishops from there. The head of the Church in India was called as Metrapolita d’Hendo having jurisdiction over the whole of India and its confines. The See of the head of the Indian Church was at Kodungallur. From the 16th century onwards, western missionaries came to India and slowly the Thomas Christians came under the Latin Padroado and Propaganda jurisdictions.
The See of Kodungallur, which was then under Padroado, was suppressed in the year 1886. On 20th May 1887 Vicariates of Trichur and Kottayam were erected by Holy See for the care of the Catholic Thomas Christians who were then called as “Syro Malabar Church”. The name Syro-Malabar is coined from the words Syriac, referring to the East Syriac liturgy and Malabar, the historical name for Kerala. In the year 1896, the proper territory of the Syro Malabar Church was limited to a small area in the present state of Kerala. In the year 1955 the territory of the Church was extended to the whole of Kerala State and some neighboring districts in the States of Karnataka and Tamilnadu.
Migration and Pastoral Care
After independence of India in the year 1947, many Syro Malabar faithful began to migrate from Kerala to different parts of India and abroad. Imbibing the spirit of Second Vatican Council documents, especially Orientalium Ecclesiarum, they started requesting the Apostolic See to restore their earlier jurisdiction and get areas in India for pastoral care of migrants and for evangelization. Some moves in this regard were already made in the year 1962. From 1968 onwards a few exarchates and later eparchies were erected in North India for evangelization. But the vast majority of the Syro Malabar migrants were without due pastoral care all throughout these years.
In order to study the possibilities of the pastoral care of migrants and evangelization, the Apostolic See had appointed Apostolic Visitators. On 8th Sept 1978, Pope John Paul I appointed Mar Antony Padiyara as an Apostolic Visitor to study the situation of migrant Syro-Malabar Catholics in India who continued till 23rd April 1985. In 1980, Mar Padiyara Submitted the report to Pope John Paul II. In 1986 Pope John Paul II visited India and studied the matter personally. Pope John Paul II of happy memory sent a letter on 28th May 1987 to all the bishops in India regarding the pastoral care and mission of the Eastern Catholics in India after which the eparchy of Kalyan was erected in the year 1988 for the Syro Malabar Migrants in Mumbai-Pune region. After a gap, Bishop Gratian Mundadan was appointed Apostolic Visitor in India on 15th July 2006.
From 2008 onwards, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) through the working of its Special Commission and different bodies (Standing Committee and General Body) came to a consensus that the Syro Malabar Church could be given jurisdiction over its faithful with eparchies centered at the important cities of India and one eparchy or exarchy for the rest of India. In 2012 the eparchy of Faridabad for Delhi region was erected.
From Apostolic Visitation to Eparchy of Shamshabad
On 11th January 2014 Bishop Raphael Thattil, Auxiliary Bishop of Trichur, was appointed as the new Apostolic Visitator. Bishop Thattil worked hard to study the situation, travelling through the length and breadth of India meeting the migrants and local authorities including bishops and submitted reports to the Apostolic See. As a result, in 2015, the territory of Mandya was extended to include Bangalore region. And later, on 09th October 2017, Pope Francis wrote a letter to all the Bishops of India (Varietas Ecclesiarum) and established the Eparchy of Hosur covering the Chennai and other five states of Tamilnadu and the Eparchy of Shamshabad basing in Hyderabad city having ‘the rest of India’.
We are very proud to note that, Bishop Raphael Thattil, as Apostolic Visitator, has done great things for the growth of the Church in India, especially of the Syro Malabar Church. During the three years, he proved that he is a great organizer and missionary for the cause of the Church. He could instil missionary spirit among the faithful in the mother Church. He started many centers for Syro Malabar mission, bought land and constructed churches. He could collect data of Syro Malabar migrants and organize the mission centres under different regions and coordinators. The report he presented to the Apostolic See helped Holy Father to take a speedy decision. This is clear from the historical letter dated 9th October 2017 of Pope Francis in which we read: “... he has provided detailed reports to the Apostolic See. This issue has been examined in meetings at the highest levels of the Church. Following these steps, I believe the time is now right to complete this process”. (L’Osservatore Romano, English Edition, no. 41, 13 Oct 2017, p.5).
Global Presence of the Syro-Malabar Church
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is based in Kerala which is headed by Major Archbishop Cardinal Mar George Alencherry. Being the largest of St. Thomas Christians with around 5 million believers, this Church is described as "Catholic by faith, Indian by culture, and Oriental in liturgy”. Due to world-wide emigration of its members, presently the Syro-Malabar Church is globally present. In order to care for these migrants, the Catholic Church has taken measures by providing with Dioceses, Bishops and Priests. Syro-Malabar Church is having 31 dioceses in India and 4 are in the United States, Canada, Australia and Great Briton. Two apostolic visitators are studying the possibilities in Europe and Oceania.
Shamshabad in Hyderabad
“Shamshabad” is a small town where the Hyderabad International Airport is situated. The meaning of the word shamsha is “sunshine”. It is 25 Km away from Hyderabad city and 35 Km from Secunderabad. This new diocese has the faithful, spread all over India in 23 states, 4 union territories including 2 islands of India. Hence the Diocese of Shamshabad is the biggest among the Catholic Dioceses of India. The new diocese has a total of 25000 Catholics, spread in almost 100 Cities of India and 165 priests serve them.
In the last two years we have registered 8 common trusts and 14 nodal (parish) trusts for the religious, social and charitable Activities. Thomamarg Religious Trust and Premmarg Charitable Trust are the two trusts were formed in 2015, under the aegis of Santhom Mission India and now continue to be part of the Eparchy of Shamshabad.
The Inauguration and Enthronement of Bishop Mar Raphael Thattil-2017
The official inauguration of the Eparchy of Shamshabad and the enthronement of its first Bishop was held at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday, 7 January 2018, at Santhom Nagar, CKR & KTR Convention Hall, Balaji Nagar, Badangpet Post Office to Balapur Road, R.R. District, 500058.
New Bishop’s House -2021
The blessing and inauguration of the Bishop’s House and the Diocesan Administrative Office of the Diocese of Shamshabad took place on 21st November 2021 at Balapur, R.R. Dist. Hyderabad. This Diocesan administrative office will cater to the pastoral needs of the Syro-Malabar Faithful spread across 23 States, two Union Territories and Islands.
New Auxiliary Bishops – 2022
On 25th August 2022, the Eparchy of Shamshabad was blessed with two new auxiliaries: Msgr. Joseph Kollamparampil and Msgr. Thomas Padiyath. The episcopal ordination of the auxiliary bishops was done on 9th October 2022 at Hyderabad. Major Archbishop His beatitude Mar George Alencherry was the main celebrant. Bishop Mar Joseph Kollamparampil will be responsible for the Sabarmati Region in Gujarat and Bishop Mar Thomas Padiyath will be responsible for Etawah- Jaipur Region of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh Federal States.
New Bishop – 2024
The 32nd Synod (2024) Session I of Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church has elected Bishop Raphael Thattil, the Bishop of the Eparch of Shamshabad, the Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church. Mar Joseph Kollamparampil, the auxiliary of Shamshabad was appointed as the administrator of the Eparchy of Shamshabad on 13th January 2024. The 3rd Session of the 32nd Synod of Bishops (from August 19-31) has elected Mar Prince Antony Panengadan, the Bishop of Adilabad as the New Bishop of the Eparchy of Shamshabad. Mar Prince Antony Panengadan took the charge of the Eparchy of Shamshabad on 10th November 2024.