By Verghese V Joseph –
Rome: The Holy Father has announced the appointment of the Reverend Fr Varghese Vinayanand, O.I.C., as apostolic administrator of the Syro-Malankarese Eparchy of Saint John Chrysostom of Gurgaon in northern India. The announcement by Pope Francis was done on Saturday.
Father Vinayanand is a member of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, a clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right. He succeeds Bishop Jacob Barnabas Chacko Aerath, O.I.C., who died of post-Covid-19 complications in a private hospital in New Delhi on Thursday.
The undivided Syro-Malankara Syrian Church founded by the Apostle St. Thomas regained full communion with the Catholic Church on 20 September 1930 through the untiring ecclesial re-union efforts of the Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios. The Holy Father, Pope Pius XI through the Apostolic Constitution Christo Pastorum Principi of 11 June 1932, established the Syro-Malankara Catholic Hierarchy and elevated it to the status of a Metropolitan Church. In 2005 Saint Pope John Paul II raised it to the status of Major Archiepiscopal Church.
The mission of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church outside its proper canonical territory gradually began with the efforts of individual missionaries; however a major landmark was the establishment of Bethany Ashram Pune on 24 October 1955. From Pune, the Bethany Fathers took care of the Malankara Catholic faithful in Mumbai-Pune regions. Soon the Malankara Catholics in other cities of India began to organize themselves as Malankara Catholic Associations.
From the beginning of 1970s, the Malankara Syrian Hierarchy directly took initiative and began sending priests from the Eparchies to these communities. From 1980, these communities began to be erected canonically as personal parishes in the dioceses where they were registered. The Hierarchy gave further support to them appointing Rev. Fr. John Berchmans OIC in 1997 as the co-coordinator of the Malankara Syrian Catholics outside the territorium proprium. Under his assiduous leadership the communities got organized strongly under the banner of ˜The Malankara Catholic Church Extra Territorial Regions in India (MCC-ETRI).
On February 2007, Most Rev. Dr. Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas was appointed Apostolic Visitator of the Extra-territorial Region in India by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. Later, the Holy Episcopal Synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church officially entrusted Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas with the pastoral care of the Syro-Malankara Catholic faithful residing outside of its proper territory in India.
On 26 March 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis by the Decree N 7780/15 erected the St. John Chrysostom Eparchy of Gurgaon for the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church in India outside of her proper territory and Most Rev. Dr. Jacob Mar Barnabas, Apostolic Visitator of the undivided MCC-ETRI was appointed as its first Bishop. Bifurcating the MCC-ETRI, St. Ephrem Exarchate of Khadki was also erected on the same day and Most Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Anthonios was appointed as its first Exarch. Indeed, with the establishment of these two canonical provisions, the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church has received an ecclesiastical jurisdiction to preach the Good News to all over in India.
The Servant of God Archbishop Mar Ivanios dreamed of and prayed for a Malankara Syrian Catholic Church that would be blessed with the charism of preaching the Word of God to the entire nation of India with full canonical autonomy. The long cherished prayer and dream of the Servant of God is now realized. In addition, it doubles the delight that the decision of the Holy See came during the Birth Centenary year of Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of revered memory, who untiringly worked to bring the task of evangelization to the extra-territorial regions both in India and abroad.
The Church is also greatly indebted to Moran Mor Cyril Baselios, the first Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church for his deep theological and ecclesiastical vision and mission endeavours. Indeed, it is under the outstanding and efficient leadership of His Eminence Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, the Major Archbishop-Catholicos, the father and head of the Syro- Malankara Catholic Church, that the church became more vibrant in her evangelical perspective, and she is blessed with the new Eparchy of Gurgaon.
The Eparchy of Gurgaon is spread over 22 States in the North and East regions of India. This Eparchy has a huge territory which includes 22 of the 29 states of India.
The Eparchy of Gurgaon is established under the name of St. John Chrysostom (the Greek name for Mar Ivanios). St. Maryâ’s Church in Neb Sarai, Delhi is the Cathedral Church for the Eparchy of Gurgaon. New Delhi is the Centre of the Eparchy, as it is the metropolitan area with the most substantial concentration of the Malankara Syrian Catholic faithful, distributed in nine parishes. The Bishop’s residence and chancery is at the Mar Ivanios Bhawan, Neb Sarai, IGNOU Road (Saket). Currently, there are sixteen institutions in the new Eparchy, including two colleges, three higher secondary schools and two high schools.
The inauguration of the St. John Chrysostom Diocese of Gurgaon and the installation (Sunthroneeso) of Most Rev. Dr. Jacob Mar Barnabas took place on May 1, 2015 at St. Maryâ’s Malankara Catholic Cathedral Church, Neb Sarai, New Delhi. The liturgical ceremonies and public meeting were presided over by His Eminence Moran Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis, the Major Archbishop-Catholicos, the father and head of the Syro-Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Church. The presence of Archbishop Salvatore Pennachio, the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Hierarchs from the Latin Rite and the Syro-Malabar Rite and other sister churches, prominent political and social leaders of the country, priests, religious and number of faithful from all walks of life graced the occasion.
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