Pope Erects Apostolic Exarchate for Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in US
(14 Jul 10 – RV) On Wednesday Pope Benedict XVI has erected an Apostolic Exarchate
for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the United States and appointed Father Thomas
Naickamparampil as its first bishop. The pope also appointed him Apostolic Visitator
for the Syro-Malankara Catholics in Canada and Europe.
The erection of the
exarchate and appointments were publicized in Washington, July 14, by Msgr. Jean-François
Lantheaume, Chargé d’Affaires, at the apostolic nunciature in the United States.
Father
Naickamparampil is a priest of the Major Archiepiscopal Eparchy of Trivandrum, India.
An apostolic exarchate is the Eastern Catholic Church equivalent of an apostolic
vicariate. It is not a full-fledged eparchy (diocese), but is established by the Holy
See for the pastoral care of Eastern Catholics in an area outside the territory of
the Eastern Catholic Church to which they belong. It is headed by a bishop or a priest
with the title of Exarch. An apostolic visitator is a papal representative who has
been asked to familiarize himself with the situation of a given community and to report
on its status to the Holy See.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is centered
in southern India where it has eight eparchies (dioceses) and about 500,000 faithful. It
is headed by His Beatitude Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, who resides
in the city of Trivandrum. It has been estimated that there are approximately 10,000
Syro-Malankara Catholics in the United States and Canada.