Most Holy Father!

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church considers this to be one of the happiest and proudest moments in her hitherto history, as the Holy Episcopal Synod of this Church, ever since the Synod came into existence, is able to be with the Vicar of Christ on Earth, the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church. On behalf of all our priests, religious and the Faithful, this Holy Episcopal Synod extends our fondest greetings and sentiments of filial affection and allegiance to Your Holiness.

At the very outset, in the name of the whole Syro-Malankara Catholic I raise my heart to God in deep felt gratitude for the most precious gift of Your Holiness to the Church and to the world, for your spiritual leadership to the Church and for your moral leadership to the world, which is extremely crucial both for the Church and for the world today.

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church remains ever grateful to Your Holiness for the most generous patronage and constant support extended to us in our attempt to safeguard and live our precious Apostolic tradition, to bear Christian witness through our commitment to the Gospel values, to grow in our service of ‘Diakonia’ to the world and to flourish in Catholic communion. As an apostolic Church, founded by St. Thomas the Apostle and fully living the Catholic communion under the most inspiring leadership of Your Holiness, we are privileged to experience all the ecclesial and spiritual goodness of a Major Archiepiscopal Church sui juiris. I take this opportunity to express our deepest indebtedness to the Holy See for vesting this ancient and apostolic ecclesial community with the status of a Major Archiepiscopal Church within the Catholic communion. We sincerely appreciate all the support that Your Holiness and the Holy See provide us in living faithfully this special ecclesial vocation that we have in the Church and in the world.

We are humbly aware of the various dimensions of our ecclesial identity that we are called to live and witness to. As an oriental Apostolic Church, we realize the specificity and centrality of our liturgical tradition in our ecclesial and social life. This tradition is the primary source of our spiritual life. Hence the importance of safeguarding it in its integrity and living it faithfully. As an Eastern Church fully living the Catholic communion, we are constantly reminded of our special call to bear witness to the values of our Eastern ecclesial tradition and to the beauty and goodness of our universal communion. This invites us to be in continuous and constructive dialogue with our Eastern Christian brothers and sisters who have not yet been privileged to experience the grace of this communion. Thus ecumenism is a one of our major ecclesial concerns. At this juncture, we would like to express our deep appreciation for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. This Apostolic Constitution clearly manifested the profundity of the ecclesial vision of Your Holiness and the sincerity with which Your Holiness strive for Church unity. This came as a reaffirmation of and encouragement to our own attempts at Church unity for the last eight decades.

The socio-religious background in which we are called to fulfill our ecclesial and Christian mission is also very important. We are constantly exposed to, challenged and enriched by a multi-religious, multi- cultural context. The ancient cultures and religions amidst which we live have many things to enrich our own faith and spirituality. So also, there are elements in these cultures and religions which need to be made whole with the healing touch of the Gospels and the values of our specific ecclesial tradition. Therefore presenting the beauty of the Gospel message to these our brothers and sisters with the experiential richness of our personal ecclesial tradition is an equally important concern for us. Hence we are impelled to be in constant dialogue with the various religions and cultures around us. This makes it necessary that our missionary possibilities are not limited by any geographical boundaries in India. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, from its very inception has always been deeply conscious of its missionary vocation, thanks to the inspiring example given by Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios in his commitment to the mission Ad Gentes. As the whole Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is preparing seriously these days in prayer, study and reflection for the first ever Assembly of the Church to be held in September, we have happily chosen the topic ‘The Missionary Malankara Catholic Church’ as the special theme of the Assembly.

The dynamic growth of our Church has brought us beyond the boundaries of the Indian subcontinent. Today our ecclesial presence is very vibrant in the continents of America, Europe, Africa and also in the Gulf countries. This poses to us new ecclesial and missionary challenges. In the diverse, over-secularized and fast-changing cultures and value-systems that we are surrounded by in these regions, we as a Church are called to bear witness to the perennial values of the Gospels and of our ecclesial tradition. We are called to instill in these cultures a fundamental God-orientedness, to uphold the sanctity of the family, etc., – values that are very specific to the culture that we have inherited.

As a believing community gathered and sustained by the love of Christ, we are deeply aware of our special mission to our brothers and sisters who are less privileged than we are, who are the sad victims of poverty, violence, solitude, discrimination, etc.. The challenge of Christian charity impels us to be positively sensitive to them and to do all that is within our resources to allow them to live in the dignity of the Children of God.

In this context, the Holy Episcopal Synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church humbly request Your Holiness to take personal care in solving the issue of All India jurisdiction for the Oriental Catholic Churches in India. It would bring in a new atmosphere of proper Catholic communion in the entire nation and enhance the work of evangelization in the sub-continent. Our Holy Episcopal Synod also request Your Holiness to visit our mother country India. It will be greatly appreciated by all those who seek God in our country.

We are deeply grateful to Your Holiness for all the support and blessings that Your Holiness so generously grant us in order to fulfill our Apostolates. Let me conclude with the earnest prayer of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church that the Lord may continue to bless Your Holiness with good health and all His special graces so that Your Holiness may continue to exercise this most important mission for the good of the Church and of the people all over the world. May the ministry of Your Holiness continue to be a powerful means to ensure the world peace and unity and to strengthen the faith of the people. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church humbly implores Your Holiness’ paternal blessings and valuable prayers. We thank Your Holiness sincerely for this gracious audience and we express our unfailing loyalty and fidelity to Your Holiness.
Humbly Yours in Our Lord,

+ Baselios Cleemis
Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara
Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church

Vatican
25th March, 2011

Dear Brother Bishops,

I welcome all of you here today on the occasion of your pilgrimage ad limina apostolorum. I thank His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis for the devoted sentiments which he has addressed to me in your name. Through you, I extend greetings to all the priests, religious and lay faithful of your eparchies, and I wish to assure them of my prayers for their spiritual and material well-being. This time together is a privileged occasion to deepen the bonds of fraternity and communion between the See of Peter and the Syro-Malankara Church, happily promoted to Major Archiepiscopal Church by the Venerable John Paul II in 2005.

The apostolic traditions which you maintain enjoy their full spiritual fruitfulness when they are lived in union with the Church universal. In this sense, you rightly follow in the footsteps of the Servant of God Mar Ivanios, who led your predecessors and their faithful into full communion with the Catholic Church. Like your forefathers, you too are called, within the one household of God, to continue in firm fidelity to that which has been passed down to you.

All Catholic Bishops share a proper concern for faithfulness to Jesus Christ and are desirous of that unity which he willed for his disciples (cf. John 17:11), while preserving their legitimate diversity. So it is that “the Catholic Church wishes the traditions of each particular Church or rite to remain whole and entire, and she likewise wishes to adapt her own way of life to the various needs of time and place” (Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 2). Each generation must confront the challenges to the Church in accordance with its capacities and in harmony with the rest of the Mystical Body of Christ. I encourage you, therefore, to foster an affection among your priests and people for the liturgical and spiritual heritage that has come down to you, while steadfastly building upon your communion with the See of Peter.

The deposit of faith handed down from the Apostles and faithfully transmitted to our times is a precious gift from the Lord. It is that message of salvation which has been revealed in the person of Jesus whose Spirit unites believers of every time and place, giving us fellowship with the Father and with his Son so that our joy may be complete (cf. 1 John 1:1-4). You and your priests are called to promote this fellowship through word and sacrament, and to strengthen it by a sound catechesis, so that the Word of Life, Jesus Christ, and the gift of divine life – communion with him – may be known throughout the world (cf. Verbum Domini, 2).

Due to its ancient roots and distinguished history, Christianity in India has long made its proper contribution to culture and society, and to its religious and spiritual expressions. It is through a determination to live the Gospel, “the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (Romans 1:16), that those whom you serve will make a more effective contribution to the entire body of Christ and to Indian society, to the benefit of all. May your people continue to flourish by the preaching of God’s word and by the promotion of a fellowship based on the love of God.

I note the particular challenges to many of your parishes in providing proper pastoral care and mutual support, especially when there is not always a parish priest at hand. And yet, smaller parishes, bearing in mind the social reality Christians face in the broader cultural context, present their own opportunities for truly fraternal upbuilding and assistance. Small Christian communities have often, as you know, given outstanding witness in the history of the Church. Just as in apostolic times, the Church in our age will surely thrive in the presence of the living Christ, who has promised to be with us always (cf. Matthew 28:20) and to sustain us (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:8).

It is this divine presence which must remain at the centre of your people’s life, faith and witness, and which you their Pastors are called to watch over so that, even if they must live far from their community, they will not live far from Christ. Indeed, it is important to remember that Christian communities are “the proper setting where a personal and communal journey based on the word of God can occur and truly serve as the basis for our spiritual life” (Verbum Domini, 72).

One of the ways in which you exercise your role as teachers of the faith to the Christian community is through the catechetical and faith formation programmes taking place under your direction. Since “instruction should be based on holy scripture, tradition, liturgy, and on the teaching authority and life of the Church” (Christus Dominus, 14), I am pleased to note the variety and number of programmes that you currently employ. Along with the celebration of the sacraments, such programmes will help ensure that those in your care will always be able to give an account of the hope which is theirs in Christ. Indeed, catechesis and spiritual development are among the most important challenges which pastors of souls face, and so I warmly encourage you to persevere along the path you have chosen as you seek to form your people in a deeper knowledge and love of the faith, aided by God’s grace and by your humble trust in his providence.

With these thoughts, I renew my sentiments of fraternal affection and esteem for you. Invoking the intercession of Saint Thomas the Apostle, India’s great patron, I assure you of my prayers and willingly impart to you and to those entrusted to your care my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace in the Lord Jesus Christ.

On 25 March 2011, the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI received prelates of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, who have been in Vatican for their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

“The apostolic traditions which you maintain enjoy their full spiritual fruitfulness when they are lived in union with the Church universal”, said the Holy Father in his English-language remarks. “In this sense, you rightly follow in the footsteps of the Servant of God Mar Ivanios, who led your predecessors and their faithful into full communion with the Catholic Church. Like your forefathers, you too are called, within the one household of God, to continue in firm fidelity to that which has been passed down to you”.

“The deposit of faith handed down from the Apostles and faithfully transmitted to our times is a precious gift from the Lord”, said the Holy Father, noting that “due to its ancient roots and distinguished history, Christianity in India has long made its proper contribution to culture and society, and to its religious and spiritual expressions. It is through a determination to live the Gospel … that those whom you serve will make a more effective contribution to the entire body of Christ and to Indian society, to the benefit of all. May your people continue to flourish by the preaching of God’s word and by the promotion of a fellowship based on the love of God.”

Benedict then turned to consider the challenges facing the prelates in their work, especially the shortage of parish priests. In this context he encouraged them not to lose heart because “small Christian communities have often, as you know, given outstanding witness in the history of the Church. … It is this divine presence which must remain at the centre of your people’s life, faith and witness, and which you their pastors are called to watch over so that, even if they must live far from their community, they will not live far from Christ.”

“One of the ways in which you exercise your role as teachers of the faith to the Christian community”, the Pope concluded his remarks to the bishops, “is through catechetical and faith formation programmes…. Since ‘instruction should be based on Holy Scripture, Tradition, liturgy, and on the teaching authority and life of the Church’, I am pleased to note the variety and number of programmes that you currently employ. Along with the celebration of the Sacraments, such programmes will help ensure that those in your care will always be able to give an account of the hope which is theirs in Christ”.

The prelates headed by Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, the Father and Head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, His Grace Most Rev. Thomas Mar Koorilos, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tiruvalla, Most Rev. Geevarghese Mar Divannasios, Bishop of Puttur, Most Rev, Yoohanon Mar Chrysostom, Bishop of Pathanamthitta, Most Rev. Joshua Mar Ignathios, Bishop of Mavelikkara, Most Rev. Joseph Mar Thomas, Bishop of Bathery, Most Rev. Abraham Mar Julios, Bishop of Muvattupuzha, Most Rev. Vincent Mar Paulose, Bishop of Marthandom, Most Rev. Thomas Mar Eusebius, Bishop of Exarchate in USA, Most Rev. Jacob Mar Barnabas, Apostolic Visitor in India, Most Rev. Thomas Mar Anthonios, Bishop of the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Most Rev. Samuel Mar Irenios, Auxiliary bishop of Trivandrum, and Most Rev. Philiopse Mar Stephanos, Auxiliary Bishop of Tiruvalla were present. The prelates also had personal audience with the Holy Father in these days.