Anchal – 22 May 2025
There are houses made of stone and there are houses made of prayer. When both come together, they form a dwelling not just for the body, but for the soul entrusted with the care of souls. Such a home was consecrated at 3:00 PM on 22 May 2025 at the Mar Gregorios Campus in Anchal, the pastoral nerve centre of the Anchal Ecclesiastical District.
“Shalom Bhavan,” the newly constructed priest residence, was solemnly blessed by His Eminent Beatitude Cardinal Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, with the co-celebration of His Excellency Most Rev. Dr. Mathews Mor Polycarpos, Auxiliary Bishop of the Major Archieparchy of Trivandrum.
This building is more than walls and rooms—it is a tribute, a remembrance, a continuation. It was erected in honour of the late Venerable Msgr. Alexander Valiyaveettil Corepiscopa, who served this region alongside the saintly Venerable Mar Ivanios and the esteemed Archbishop Mar Gregorios with unwavering dedication for decades.
The residence stands today not as an isolated structure, but as part of the living legacy of pastoral care, formed in prayer and shaped by sacrifice. Attached to the residence is a chapel—a sacred sanctuary consecrated in the name of Venerable Carlo Acutis, a saintly youth of our times whose life of Eucharistic devotion has captured the imagination of this generation.
That this house bears the name “Shalom”—peace—is fitting. For it is meant to be a place of prayerful rest and spiritual readiness for priests, who are called to be instruments of Christ’s peace in a world all too familiar with unrest.
May “Shalom Bhavan” become a space where the clergy find not only shelter but strength; not only retreat but renewal. And may the memory of those who served here before, especially Msgr. Alexander Valiyaveettil Corepiscopa, continue to inspire generations of priests to come—who, like him, will walk humbly with God and serve faithfully in the vineyard of the Lord.
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