Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain

The Eparchy of Great Britain is the sole Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Great Britain. Its cathedral is Syro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in the episcopal see of Preston, Lancashire.[2] This eparchy is not part of any ecclesiastical province and is exempt immediately to the Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. It has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in the entirety of Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales (the United Kingdom minus Northern Ireland). Most of the members of the church are British Indians with heritage in Kerala, where the Syro-Malabar Church is based.

Eparchy of Great Britain
Syro-Malabar Cathedral of Marth Alphonsa, Preston (formerly St. Ignatius Church)
Logo of the eparchy
Location
CountryGreat Britain
TerritoryEngland and Wales & Scotland
Statistics
Area229,848 km2 (88,745 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics		(as of 2013)
60,003,000
38,000
Information
DenominationCatholic Church
Sui iuris churchSyro-Malabar Catholic Church
RiteEast Syriac Rite
Established28 July 2016 (2016-07-28)
CathedralSyro-Malabar Cathedral of St Alphonsa in Preston
Secular priests23
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Major ArchbishopMetropolitan and Gate of all India Mar George Cardinal Alencherry
EparchMar Joseph Srampickal [1]
Website
www.eparchyofgreatbritain.org

The British eparchy, established in 2016, is the church's fourth diocesan jurisdiction outside India, after the eparchies of Mississauga (Canada), Chicago (US) and Melbourne (Australia). The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church also has an Apostolic Visitor for Europe based in Rome, Bishop Mar Stephen Chirapanath who oversee and liaison the pastoral missions and mass centres in other parts of Europe including Northern Ireland.

Location and structure

It has chaplains (mostly Indian) in territory overlapping 22 British Latin Catholic dioceses, a national coordination council and eight diocesan departments: Liturgy, Finance, Catechism, Faith Formation, Lay Association, Resolution Committee and Youth Association. Its first and present eparch is Joseph Srampickal.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Kerala's Syro-Malabar Catholics get new diocese in UK", The News Minute, July 29, 2016.
  2. "Pope Francis erects Eparchy for the Syro-Malabar community in Great Britain", The Catholic Church in England and Wales, July 28, 2016.
  3. "Great Britain’s first Indian Syrian Catholic Bishop ordained in front of 12,000-strong crowd at Preston", British South Indians, October 9, 2016.
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