Syro Malabar church to issue its ‘Aadhaar’ for parishes

KOCHI, Nov 19 2019: In an ambitious attempt to move with the times and make its services, religious and otherwise, available at the ‘fingertips’ of believers, the Syro-Malabar church is launching an app for each of its roughly 3,500 parishes – the church has already come out with custom made apps for more than 700 parishes.

The apps are meant for religious, administrative and practical needs of every parish, and the vicar’s office will serve as the admin for each app. The church is also set to provide a Unique Identification Number, similar to Aadhaar, to every parishioner through the app.

“A churchgoer would get the day’s bible readings and the liturgical calendar in the app. If they wish to see a homily by the cardinal or other bishops, it could be streamed in the app. The app can be used for communication within the parish and for administrative purposes like applying for a marriage certificate and booking of a parish hall as well,” Father Joby Maprakavil,executive director of the Syro-Malabar Church Internet Mission, said.

Different congregations and dioceses under the church are also getting their own apps. These apps are ‘closed apps’ which can be accessed by members of a parish only through OTP verification. The app would have contact details of everyone in the parish and would serve various practical uses. “For instance, the vicar would be able to send emergency alerts, like info about the death of a fellow parishioner, through the app,” Fr Joby explained.

The Syro-Malabar Church on Nov 16 released a tutorial video for priests on how to use the app through their You-Tube channel. “We are planning to digitise the ‘Athmasthithi Register’ (a register having details of every family in the church), through the app in the near future. Each user would have a unique ID which can be seen on their profile page upon login. If a person moves from one parish to another, the entire details associated with their user ID could be moved to his new parish using the unique identification number,” Fr Joby said

 

source: Times of India