Catholic and Orthodox religious orders plan dialogue during jubilee
The indigenous religious order of Syro Malankarahopes its 75th anniversary of founding will begin the healing of the order, split more than 50 years ago into an Orthodox Syrian Church faction and a Syro-Malankara Catholic faction."As a jubilee memorial we plan to start a dialogue with our counterparts in the...
Malankara Archdiocese launches legal education for activists
Leaders of voluntary associations in the Trivandrum Syro Malankara archdiocese can now fight social exploitation with the help of free legal training provided by a Church social service society.The Malankara social service society (MSS) has opened a legal aid center for voluntary organizations in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala state,...
Consecrated life is best witness to gospel in East, says Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios
The best announcement of the Good News in the East is the life witness of Religious, says Syro Malankara Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of Trivandrum."In India nothing attracts more powerfully, nothing is admired more sincerely, than the life of renunciation," said the 76-year-old prelate while opening the national assembly...
Archbishop Mar Gregorios gets federal government recognition
Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of Trivandrum spreads not only the Gospel, but also seeds of an agricultural revolution.And the bearded patriarch combats unemployment and promotes social revolution through a seedlings project in the southern Indian state of Kerala.India´s federal government this year asked the 76-year-old Syro Malankara metropolitan to...
Syro Malankara Catholic Church awaits Papal approval for more authority
The Syro Malankara Church (SMC), an oriental Catholic Church in the southern Indian state of Kerala, awaits papal approval for its episcopal synod, which would give it a more legitimate administrative authority as an Oriental Church.SMC authorities have submitted a proposal for the episcopal synod to the Vatican."Our proposal...
Benedict Mar Gregorios, India’s Renaissance Man
A profile of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Archbishop of Trivandrum.By, Sister Christian Molidor, R.S.M.Benedict Mar Gregorios is a man who hurries in a heat of hope!The Syro-Malankara Archbishop of Trivandrum is an elegant, thin man in perpetual motion. When introduced, he mocked his wispy beard by telling us that children...
New Superior General elected
Father Jerome Peedikaparambil has been elected superior general of the Order of Imitation of Christ (OIC).Father Peedikaparambil succeeds Father Louis Moolaveetil, who was shot dead by unidentified people in the central Indian town of Nagpur, about 600 kilometers east of Bombay, a few months ago.He was elected Feb. 19...
Superior General, Fr. Louis Moolaveetil’s death shocks Church
A pall of gloom fell on the Church following the murder of Imitation of Christ Superior General Father Louis Moolaveetil in Nagpur, central India, Sept 17.Father Moolaveetil and Father Mathew Thuruthil were on their way to the airport when two unidentified youths on a motorbike shot at them. They...
Bishops’ meet begins with call for reconciliation and communion
A Syro Malankara rite Mass attended by nearly 5,000 people Nov. 9 inaugurated the biennial meeting of the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India (CBCI) here in the northeastern state of Meghalaya.Celebrated by CBCI president Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios Varghese Thangalathil of Trivandrum and concelebrated by bishops of the other...
Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios acclaims draft of new canon law for oriental churches
The Canon Law for Oriental Churches now awaiting papal approval will give greater autonomy to member Churches, claims Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of the Syro-Malankara archdiocese of Trivandrum.In a message aired Nov. 19 by Vatican Radio, the Oriental prelate, president of the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India, told listeners...
