FEATURE
Meeting the Syro-Malabar Catholics of Liverpool by Neil Addison
Cardinal Alencherry, Head of the Syro Malabar Church
O
ne of the many peculiarities of Vatican II is that, whilst the liturgy in the west was dramatically recast with little regard for tradition, a completely different approach was taken towards the liturgies of the 23 Eastern Churches who are in full communion with Rome. In Orientalium Ecclesiarum Eastern Catholics were exhorted to ‘cherish’ their historic traditions and it was noted that ‘practices sanctioned by a noble antiquity harmonize better with the customs of the faithful and are more likely to foster the good of souls.’ Unfortunately, as we are all aware,
SPRING 2019
these wise principles of Orientalium Ecclesiarum were ignored in the west. One of the Eastern Churches which has taken these principles to heart is the Syro-Malabar, Church which has put a lot of effort into preserving its identity and rites amongst a wide spread Diaspora. The name combines their origins in the South West Indian state of Kerala, historically known as the ‘Malabar Coast’ with their use of the ancient Syriac Rite, hence ‘SyroMalabar’. The origin of the Church goes back to the Apostle ‘Doubting’ Thomas, who is honoured by Indian Christians as
the Apostle who brought Christianity to the subcontinent. Most Indian Churches have a statue or icon of St Thomas which emphasises not his doubts but rather his dramatic declaration of faith ‘My Lord and my God’. There are about 38,000 SyroMalabars in Britain. With 84 Priests they collectively form an Eparchy, which is a form of special diocese covering the whole of Great Britain, and they have their own bishop, Joseph Srampickal, who is a member of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales.
43
