Archbishop Thattil: Union with Rome central to Syro-Malabar identity

By Joseph Tulloch

In January this year, Raphael Thattil was elected head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of India.

As tradition, he went to Rome shortly after and met Pope Francis on the 13th.th Can.

While in the city, he also visited the Vatican News headquarters.

In an interview, the archbishop spoke about the history of the Syro-Malabar Church, its missionary work abroad, its ongoing liturgical conflict and his own recent meeting with Pope Francis.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for style and brevity.

Vatican News: Monsignor, thank you very much for coming. Perhaps you could start by telling us a little about the Syro-Malabar Church.

Mgr Raphaël Thattil: The Syro-Malabar Church is one of the most active and missionary Churches among the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome. It is a Church founded by the Apostle Thomas. In keeping with our tradition, Thomas came to India twice. He first went to northern India, to a place called Bharuch in Gujarat. (The Christians there) are among the “Thomas Christians,” because they proudly say, “Our apostle is Thomas.”

The second visit was to Kodungallur in Kerala. Kodungallur was a Jewish trading town. Therefore, I consider that Thomas came to Kodungallur and Kerala in search of the Jews, as all the disciples had done. Sometimes people have asked me who translated for Thomas when he spoke Hebrew. The answer for me is the migrants: they were the translators. And our Church is a migrant Church. Perhaps because of blood ties, we travel very frequently. The Syro-Malabar Church spread from Kerala throughout India and outside India. You will be surprised to know that we only have 35 dioceses. Only 13 are in Kerala. 18 dioceses are outside Kerala in India. And four dioceses are outside India, on four continents, in the United States, Australia, Canada and Preston, England. So, what I would like to tell you is that our community is a missionary community.

Q: And you just became the leader of this Church with this long history. What are some of your priorities?

A: First of all, I would like to thank God because it is the most powerful Eastern Catholic Church. Among the Christians of Saint-Thomas, the majority are Catholics. And our ancestors, despite all the persecutions of the missionaries, never wanted to cut off our communion with the Holy Father.

There was once a temptation in our Church, when they discovered that they were very limited by the (Western) missionaries. One group decided to leave the Roman Catholic communion, not voluntarily, but because of circumstances. Even then, our ancestors said, with all these persecutions, with all these restrictions, we would like to remain Catholic in communion with the Holy Father.

I would therefore like to tell you with pride that the Syro-Malabar Church has never broken its communion with the Holy See and the Holy Father. My wish is that we continue our mission in the Catholic Church as a powerful Eastern Church, a very proactive Eastern Church in the service of the Catholic communion.

Q: You spoke about the union with the Pope and you met him recently. How did this meeting go?

A: The Holy Father was very paternal. I never had the impression of being in the presence of the Holy Father – even though he was the Holy Father! – but he treated me like his son. He listened to me as if I had something to tell him.

And when I talked about the problems, his attitude was one of consolation: “Don't worry. When you have many horizons, problems are nothing. Problems make you more active. Problems make you more valid and credible. I think this is a great encouragement. Problems are not the end of the world. This will make you more credible and valuable. So don't worry about any problems.

Maybe it was an accident – ​​I saw the Holy Father at 7:45 in the morning. I may have been the first received that day and it was May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. It’s a coincidence, but I think it’s very relevant to our Church because our devotion to the Church and to Jesus is a devotion to Mary.

I could tell you that our ancestors always recited the rosary, and you may be surprised that even today Syro-Malabar families kneel before dinner in front of the image of Mother Mary to recite the rosary. In my experience, my family experience, the only day we have not had a family prayer or rosary is Good Friday. The rosary is very close to our hearts. And our Church and our tradition still remain very Marian in our spirituality. All the feasts, all the feasts of Mary are celebrated with fasting. For example, we have an eight-day fast for the Nativity, a fifteen-day fast for the Assumption, twenty-five days for Christmas, and a fifty-day fast for Lent.

Q: The rosary is a Latin devotion, while fasting is more typical of Eastern Churches. So there seems to be a mixture of the two approaches?

A: We have not received the tradition of fasting and penance from the Western Church. It is a culture of India. I would prefer to say that the connection to the holiday may be Western, but the tradition of fasting comes from Indian culture. For each celebration, Hindus and Indians fast. All festivals are preceded by a fast and the culmination of the fast is the celebration of the festival.

Q: You said earlier that the Syro-Malabar Church is perhaps the most active of the Eastern Churches. I know you do a lot of missionary work, both in India and outside India. Maybe you could tell me a little about it?

A: After the arrival of European missionaries, most of the (Syro-Malabar) missionaries worked for the Latin Church in India. The Syro-Malabar Church has been so generous and benevolent that it has offered our vocations to all dioceses and religious congregations. There were about 30 bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church ruling in the Latin dioceses. And in the North East, the Salesians did not have a province of the Syro-Malabar Church, but almost all the Salesians came from the Syro-Malabar Church.

We did not insist on our ritual identity. No: our quality in carrying out our missionary work comes from our ritual identity and our family traditions. Our Church therefore still has a missionary Church, doing mission on our own and also helping the missions of the Latin Church.

Q: There has been controversy within the Syro-Malabar Church over the liturgy for some time. What is the current status of this dispute?

A: There is controversy, but this controversy, in my opinion, is a little exaggerated by the media, especially social networks. The liturgy is celebrated from the same text. (There has been) absolutely no change in the text. And we have decided, according to our Eastern tradition, to celebrate the breaking of the Word in front of the people, and the breaking of the Mystery, the Bread, in front of the altar.

We have 35 dioceses and no one mentions that 34 dioceses followed this decision. The implementation of this measure poses some difficulties in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam, which is the largest diocese and the main city of Kerala. We have difficulties, but I, being elected major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, wish to say to everyone: you will not exaggerate the controversy beyond its real and current situation.

This controversy can be resolved. I hope this can be resolved amicably. There is a question of ego and emotion because 34 dioceses followed it, but one diocese could not do it. One difficulty is that this diocese is currently under the care of a papal delegate, Cyril Vasil, and has an apostolic administrator.

This is a temporary controversy which can be resolved through friendly discussions and friendly approaches etc. I therefore do not consider this controversy to be the end of our Church. No, it is the germination of our Church. Now we will overcome it, we will overcome this difficulty and we will prosper. Because among the Eastern Churches, the most powerful Eastern Church, spread throughout the world, is the Syro-Malabar Church. The Church among the Eastern Churches capable of carrying out significant and significant missionary work both within and outside India is the Syro-Malabar Church. The Syro-Malabar Church will therefore survive these difficult times and we will do our part.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add before ending the interview?

A: Thank you very much because, you know, this interview gives me the opportunity to talk about our Church and our country, and you took this opportunity. I tell you that the Vatican media service is highly appreciated by everyone, not only in India, but throughout the world. Because I am an itinerant bishop; I traveled to everyone.

I consider the mileage you give to minorities like ours to be very important. If you gave me this platform, it shows your love for a minority community, a minority Church, but you are valid and valuable in the Catholic Communion. Vatican Radio and Vatican Media are widely listened to and followed by people all over the world, beyond your calculations – especially in India.