MCYM Resource Team Formation – Chennai, India

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MCYM Resource Team Formation – Chennai, India

The MCYM Resource Team Formation of Chennai District was conducted on Friday, 15 January 2016 at Padi.  The meeting was led by the Exarchial Director of MCYM, Fr. Varghese Valikkodath, in the presence of the Director of MCYM-Padi Unit Rev. Fr. Sabu Maruthoor. The gathering was the first of its kind, which happened for the official initiation of a Resource team for faith formation in Chennai.

The gathering was attended by MCYM members of the Padi and Ayapakkam Parishes in Chennai and had the following purposes:

  • To build a working plan to learn the 11th and 12th Sunday school text books of the Church as an initial step of the Faith formation.
  • To officially initiate the Resource team (and its Promoters) in MCYM Chennai, which is formed with the vision of laying a strong base for the Christian faith.
  • To facilitate a gathering of the two MCYM units in Chennai, thereby laying a foundation for a united work of the two parish MCYM units.
  • To make the initial decision on the work-structure of the Resource team in the coming months.
  • An intellectual growth of the MCYM members was targeted by the active participation in the resource team activities.

The following decisions were made with the suggestion and acceptance of everyone gathered.

  • A strong faith foundation of all the Resource team members was targeted in the coming days, which will in in-turn help in the spiritual growth of MCYM.
  • The decision was taken to have a monthly faith formation class (using Sunday school textbooks) with the inclusion of both the MCYM unit resource members.
  • The instruction and responsibility was given to the resource team members to convert the each monthly class sessions into a format (like PPT or class etc.,) which will be easy to be understood by all MCYM members, and educate them on the same.
  • The responsibility was given to the resource team to educate the content of the monthly gathering to all other MCYM members before the next monthly gathering.
  • It was decided that monthly gathering will happen on a Saturday of each month as per prior announcement.

As part of the discussion, the following future plans were proposed:

  • A bi-monthly or tri-monthly gathering of the two MCYM units can be conducted and some common activity can be performed to ensure unity.
  • The resource team of Chennai can conduct a seminar/class for the children in other regions in the Exarchate in the future, after proper preparation.
  • A district level election was decided to be conducted in the future when all things are well in place and running as per decisions.

Later the meeting ended with a vote of thanks by president of the MCYM Chennai Ayapakkam unit, Mr. Collins, which was followed by a concluding prayer.

Inauguration Ceremony plans for the Eparchy of USA and Canada

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Inauguration Ceremony plans for the Eparchy of USA and Canada

Watch Live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9d_N2bCPQs&feature=youtu.be

 

On January 4, 2016 His Holiness Pope Francis has elevated the Syro-Malankara Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in the USA to the status of an Eparchy and has included the territory of Canada to the new Eparchy. The Holy Father appointed His Excellency Most Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Eusebius as the first bishop of the Eparchy. The new Eparchy is called St. Mary, Queen of Peace Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy in USA and Canada. This news was announced concurrently at the Vatican, Syro-Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Curia in Trivandrum, India and at the St. Vincent De Paul Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Elmont, New York which will be the seat of the Eparchy.

It was on July 14, 2010 that His Holiness Benedict XVI established the Syro-Malankara Catholic Apostolic Exarchate in the USA and the official inauguration of the Exarchate was conducted on October 3, 2010. Since then the Church has expanded in terms of worship locations, establishment of new parishes and missions, and the number of faithful grew in both countries. The highlight of the rapid growth was the establishment of the Cathedral and Chancery which serves the focal point of the pastoral leadership, and home for its seminarians and newly ordained Syro-Malankara Catholic priest.

During the brief solemn program conducted earlier today, in conjunction with the official announcement, His Excellency offered intercessory prayers to Mother Mary, Church’s Heavenly Patroness. The Bishop was joined by the Vicar General Rev. Msgr. Peter Kochery, Chancellor Very Rev. Augustine Mangalath, Pastoral Council Secretary John P. Varghese, Malankara Clergy, Sisters and faithful. Rev. Msgr. Peter Kochery read the official text of the communication from the Holy See which was applauded by the faithful who were present. The nominated Bishop, Most Rev. Thomas Mar Eusebius Naickamparambil gave a brief remark afterwards and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the Holy Father and His Beatitude Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis for their care and support in establishing the first Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy outside of India.

The official inauguration of the newly formed Eparchy will be conducted on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at the St. Vincent De Paul Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral, 1500 Depaul Street, Elmont, NY 11003.

Detailed information of the inauguration programs is as follows:

  • 10:00 am – Pontifical Concelebrated Holy Qurbono
  • Noon – Mar Gregorios Birth Centenary & Year of Consecrated Life Programs
  • 1:00 pm – Lunch
  • 2:30 pm – Liturgical Reception, Installation of the new Bishop & Eparchy Inauguration
  • 4:00 pm – Conclusion

His Beatitude Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Major Archbishop-Catholicos, His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York Archdiocese, His Grace Most Rev. Thomas Mar Koorilos of Thiruvalla, India Archieparchy, Most Rev. William Murphy of Rockville Center Diocese and many other ecclesiastical dignitaries from USA, Canada and India are expected to attend.

MCYM Resource Team Gathering – Bangalore, India

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MCYM Resource Team Gathering – Bangalore, India

On 10 January 2016, Rev. Fr. Varghese Valikkodath, the Exarchial Director of MCYM convened the first gathering of the newly selected Resource Teams and Promoters for MCYM-Bangalore District. There were a total of around 35 members who participated in the session which included District Vicar Rev. Fr. Varghese Kadakketh and MCYM Bangalore District office bearers. Jacob Daniel from Mathikere Unit, Renju Philipose from Hennur Unit and Nibu Baby from Singasandra Unit were identified and authorized as Promoters.

During the session Fr. Varghese Valikkodath shed light on the role and purpose of the resource team in building ‘Faith Formation’ for the youth of today. Further, he stressed on how ‘teaching is the best way to learn’ and how these select members would not just understand several pressing spiritual and social topics plaguing today’s youth but also impart that knowledge to other members of the youth through various mediums.

Delhi MCA Annual Christmas Gathering

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Delhi MCA Annual Christmas Gathering

The Annual Delhi Malankara Catholic Association (DMCA) Christmas was conducted on Sunday 10th January 2016. All the parishes from Delhi participated the programme and performed individual presentation for 15 minutes each. This presentation included skit, mime, carol songs etc. The gathering concluded with the solemn meeting which was chaired by H.E. Jacob Mar Barnabas. The chief guest for the day was Jewish Rabbi Ezekiel, Isaac Malekar. The Honourable MLA of the constituency Shri. Kartar Singh also graced the occasion. The Vicar General Rt. Rev. Fr. John Kochuthundil, along with reverend priests, sisters and lay leaders were present for the occasion. Approximately 500 members from the parishes of Delhi gathered for the occasion which concluded with the dinner.

Pope Francis erects new Syro Malankara Eparchy in USA, Canada

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Pope Francis erects new Syro Malankara Eparchy in USA, Canada

Reading Papal Bull on USA Diocese
Cardinal Cleemis Catholica Bava reading the Papal Bull on the creation of USA Diocese

Pope Francis on Monday erected the Syro-Malankara Eparchy of St. Mary, Queen of Peace, of the United States and Canada, nominating Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius Naickamparambil as its first Bishop.

The Eparchy consists of 11,500 faithful, especially in the US states of Illinois, Texas, Michigan, Florida, New York, and Washington, D.C., served by 19 priests in 19 parishes or missions. Three women religious Institutes also operate within the Eparchy’s territory.

This new Ecclesiastical circumscription is created by the elevation of the Apostolic Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara faithful resident in the United States, including the extension of the boundaries to include Canada, where the pastoral care of the faithful has been coordinated most recently by His Excellency, Thomas Mar Eusebios Naickamparambil in his capacity as Apostolic Visitator.

The Eparchy’s seat will be at St. Vincent de Paul Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Elmont, New York.

Eparchies in the Eastern Church are equivalent to Dioceses in the Western Church, and Eparchs are equivalent to Bishops.  The title Exarch is used to refer to an Eastern-rite Bishop who is responsible for the pastoral care of a territory where there is no formally established Eparchy, and an Apostolic Visitator is someone who is appointed by the Pope to officially visit with the faithful in a given territory where he himself is not resident.

The Papal Bull to this effect was read by Cleemis Bava about 2 hours ago  in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBtjcBzOxWY

Mar Eusebius makes the announcement in USA

In all, the Syro Malankara Catholic Church has 10 Eparchys and an Exarchate today. The Eparchy of USA is the first outside of India.

The installation ceremony of Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius as the first Bishop of the Diocese will be held towards the end of this month.

remban

Curriculum vitae

Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius Naickamparambil was born in Mylapra in the Major Archieparchy of Trivandrum on 6 June 1961 and

  • ordained a priest on 29 December 1986.
  • After completing his studies in Philosophy and Theology at Jnanadeepa in Poona, Bishop Mar Eusebius obtained his Doctorate in Philosophy in Rome.
  • He was entrusted with the following responsibilities:
    • Associate Pastor and Pastor of various communities,
    • Professor and then Dean of Philosophy at Saint Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary,
    • Secretary General of the Major Archepiscopate of the Syro-Malankara Church,
    • Public Relations Officer,
    • Coordinator of inter-religious dialogue and Secretary of the Presbyteral Council,
    • Director of the Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, a school in Trivandrum and treasurer for the Mar Baselios Engineering College.
  • On 14 July 2010 Pope Benedict XVI nominated him Titular Bishop of Lares and the first Exarch of the Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the USA and Apostolic Visitator to Canada and Europe.

Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius speaks Malayalam, English, German, Italian, Hindi and he has a working knowledge of Syrian, Greek and French.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, recently called the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church ‘a bridge to unity’.

In Malayalam

അമേരിക്കയിലെ മലങ്കര കത്തോലിക്കാ എക്സാർക്കേറ്റ് പുതിയ ഭദ്രാസനമായി ഉയർത്തി.നിലവിലെ എക്സാർക്കേറ്റ് അദ്ധ്യക്ഷൻ ബിഷപ്പ് ഡോ.തോമസ് മാർ യൗസേബിയോസിനെ പുതിയ ഭദ്രാസന അധ്യക്ഷനായീനിയമിച്ചു. ഫ്രാൻസിസ് മാർപാപ്പായുടെ നിയമന കല്പന തിരുവനന്തപുരത്ത് സഭയുടെ ആസ്ഥാനമായ കാതോലിക്കേറ്സെൻററിൽ കർദ്ദിനാൾ മാർ ബസേലിയോസ് ക്ലീമീസ് കാതോലിക്കാ ബാവയാണ് അറിയിച്ചത്.ഇതോടെ മലങ്കര കത്തോലിക്കാ സഭക്ക് 10 ഭദ്രാസനങ്ങളും ഒരു എക്സാർക്കേറ്റുമായി .ഇന്ത്യക്കു പുറത്തുള്ള സഭയുടെ പ്രഥമ ഭദ്രാസനമാണിത്.പുതിയ ഭദ്രാസനത്തിന്റെ ഉൽഘാടനം ജനുവരി അവസാനവാരത്തിൽ അമേരിക്കയിൽ വച്ച് നടക്കും

Malankara Social Service Society becomes a member of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative

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Malankara Social Service Society becomes a member of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) initiative

The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) aligns academic and research institutions with the UN and encourages collaboration among such institutions. Nearly 80 Indian institutions, including IITs are members of UNAI. In a statement made in Kerala, Malankara Social Service Society (MSSS) director Fr Bovas Mathew said that MSSS is the first social service organisation from India to be made a member.

The membership will enable MSSS to collaborate and exchange ideas with organisations across the globe on poverty eradication and sustainable development. The 55th anniversary celebrations of MSSS and a ‘Karmolsav’ will be inaugurated on Tuesday. Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien will inaugurate a public meeting in connection with the event on January 11.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos will preside over the function. Mayor V K Prasanth will be the chief guest on the occasion. The MSSS was started in 1960 by Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios. Over the decades, the organisation has undertaken various projects. At present, it is an official implementation agency for the National Rural Livelihood Mission under the Rural Development Ministry. More recently, it was through the MSSS that the Thiruvananthapuram Major Archdiocese sent water consignments to flood ravaged Chennai.

Cleemis Bava, the chief guest at the 139th Mannam Jayanthi celebrations said Hinduism has a rich heritage of protecting the minority communities

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Cleemis Bava, the chief guest at the 139th Mannam Jayanthi celebrations said Hinduism has a rich heritage of protecting the minority communities

Indicating that intolerance is not part of Hinduism, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, head of the Syro-Malankara Church, has said Hinduism has a rich heritage of protecting the minority communities even before its protection was documented in the Constitution.

Cardinal Cleemis was speaking after inaugurating the public meeting held as part of the 139th Mannam Jayanthi celebrations at NSS headquarters at Perunna on Saturday.

According to Mar Cleemis, Christians and minorities were protected by the Hindu Society even before the Constitution, police and military system were in place, which is the heritage of Hinduism. “When Constitution came into being, it was formally documented. It was the richness of this culture that helped our predecessors lead their lives in this soil since the first century. In today’s peculiar situation, society expects the continuation of the culture. The historically important visions of the NSS will give it a fresh life” said Cleemis Bava.
Mar Cleemis expressed concern over the growing factionalism and said it would jeopardise the country. “Pluralism is the culture and heritage of our country” said Bava.

Mar Cleemis hailed the NSS for the stance taken to protect secularism and democracy. “The strength of the NSS is that it moves ahead without deviating from the visions of its founder leader. It still keeps in mind the vision of Mannath Padmanabhan that the activities of its community should not harm other communities” he said. Though Mannam was not a full-time politician, he didn’t hesitate to intervene in politics whenever the situation warranted. “At the same time, he had never used his community for political whims and fancies” Mar Cleemis said.

In his speech, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala said the call against saffronisation by NSS general secretary G. Sukumaran Nair was received warmheartedly by the entire secular forces in the State. The nation was passing through a difficult period where the decision as to what to eat and wear was decided by others. The vision of Mannathu Padmanabhan was timeless and more relevant today, he said.

Archeparchy of Tiruvalla celebrated Christmas with praise for the stars

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Archeparchy of Tiruvalla celebrated Christmas with praise for the stars

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church has celebrated Christmas with a difference in Tiruvalla by honouring people from different walks of life who have been doing praiseworthy service to society for the past several years.

Presiding over the function, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tiruvalla, Thomas Mar Koorilos, said the initiative of the Church came in the backdrop of the Pope declaring the year a special Jubilee Year of Mercy, The Hindu reported.

Pope Francis called on Catholics around the world to use the ongoing Jubilee Year of Mercy to open wide the doors of their hearts to forgive others and to work against social exclusion, even of those that may have caused them bother or upset, the Archbishop said.

A Jubilee year is a special year called by the Catholic church to receive blessing and pardon from God and remission of sins.

Problems of society

The problems of the society must be resolved with the oil of mercy and not with weapons and taking this into account, the Church thought of honouring people who have been contributing to the work of mercy in and around Tiruvalla as part of this year’s Christmas celebrations, the Archbishop said.

Kanmani, a differently abled girl who does exquisite paintings with her legs; Jayaprakash who draws beautiful pictures with his artificial limbs; Maneesh Susan Philip who got this year’s Presidential Award for best self-employment undertaking; Suresh from Kottoor who took part in the Special Olympics held in Los Angeles; Dr Jayakumar, Cario-thoracic surgeon who has done the first successful heart transplant at the Kottayam Government Medical College; Lalan the saviour of destitutes in Central Travancore; Rev A.C. Kurien, Senior Vicar General of the Mar Thoma Chruch who has been doing praiseworthy palliative care service at the Pushpagiri Medical College; Fr Ignatius Thangalathil and Fr Philip Valiakavumkal who run a chain of care homes; Sr. Mercilit who runs a special school with over 100 students; and heads of the Red Cross Society, Satyam Ministries were among those who have been honoured at the function.

Joseph Marthoma, Metropolitan of the Mar Thoma Church; Kuriakose Mar Gregorios, Bishop Thomas Samuel of the Church of South India, and Blessy, film-maker, were among those who addressed the function.

New General Administrative Body for Bethany Sisters (SIC)

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New General Administrative Body for Bethany Sisters (SIC)

The 11th Ordinary General Synaxis of the Congregation for the Sisters of Imitation of Christ (Bethany Sisters), held from 19 to 26 December 2015, elected the following members as the new General Administrative Body:
Rev. Mother Little Flower SIC   Superior General
Rev. Sr. Ardra       SIC            Assistant General
Rev. Sr. Thejus     SIC            General Councillor
Rev. Sr. Shanthi    SIC            General Councillor
Rev. Sr. Vineetha   SIC           General Councillor & Secretary General
Rev. Sr. Ashish     SIC             Procurator General

BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan calls on Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos

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BJP State president Kummanam Rajasekharan calls on Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State president Kummanam Rajasekharan called on Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos at his official residence here on Thursday.

Mr. Rajasekharan told Cardinal Cleemis that he called on him to seek his blessings before starting the organisational activities in full swing. They had closed door discussions and also had lunch. BJP leaders S. Suresh, Chempazanthy Udayan and Dany J. Paul accompanied the party’s State president.

Mr. Rajasekharan later told reporters that he shared a warm camaraderie with the Cardinal and it was he who played a pivotal role to set the stage for discussions between Hindu and Christian leaders in Kochi. The BJP president called for open discussions on all issues.

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