Pope had a special relationship with Syro-Malabar Church, says Major Archbishop

The Hindu

21-04-2025

Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil of the Syro-Malabar Church, the second largest among Eastern Rite churches in full communion with Rome, recalled with great affection the special relationship Pope Francis shared with the Church in India, especially with the Syro-Malabar Church.
Archbishop Thattil told mediapersons here that the Pope entrusted the Syro-Malabar Church with the great responsibility for pastoral care. The Pope took note of the large number of immigrant Syro-Malabar Christians and supported the pastoral care extended to them by the Church in different parts of the world.
His special relationship with the approximately five million-strong Syro-Malabar Church is evident from his close involvement with the Church, especially after discontent over adoption of a common Mass liturgy broke out into the public sphere.
Unified Mass row
While the Pope kept abreast of the developments, his involvement was evident from his video message in early December 2023 in which he appealed to the priests, religious and the lay faithful in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese to sink differences, to obey the decision of the synod, and to build bridges and unity. He also warned as a father, of disciplinary action against disobedience, which would be resorted to with great pain. The Pope had appealed to the group in the archdiocese opposed to the synod decision for the unified Mass to adopt it by Christmas 2023 as one body of the Church. Act as one Church and not as a faction, the Pope had said.
The Pope recognised and repeatedly emphasised the unique heritage, tradition of faith and the great role of the Syro-Malabar Church in the body of the universal Church. His elevation of George Koovakkad, Catholic priest of the Syro-Malabar Church, as Cardinal is a sign of the special status accorded to the Syro-Malabar Church. He was the first priest from India to have been raised to a Cardinal.
Senior priest Kuriakose Mundadan, who has stood firm in demanding that the synod Mass be rejected, said the Pope may have been misled on the affairs of the Syro-Malabar Church when he appealed for adoption of the synod Mass. He also said that Pope Francis did not exclude anybody but was inclusive in his approach.
'Solace to refugees'
Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, vicar of the major archbishop for the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, said that the Pope held fast to his view that the Church should be for the poor. He was a solace to millions of refugees all over the world.
Former Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry said that the world will remember Pope Francis as the Pope of Mercy. He never kept anybody away and mercy was the face of his mission as the head of the Church.