By Matters India Reporter
Melbourne: Pope Francis has brought New Zealand and the countries of Oceania under the jurisdiction of the Melbourne Syro-Malabar eparchy, says a statement from vicar general Monsignor Francis Kolencherry.
The decree to expand the eparchy’s boundary was signed on March 29 by Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
The eparchy created Pope Francis on January 11, 2014, currently covers Australia.
The decision to include Oceania aims to reach pastoral and spirituals needs of the increasing number of Syro-Malabar Catholics in New Zealand and the Oceania region, adds the statement from the vicar general of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle, Melbourne.
Oceania is a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, Oceania has a land area of 8,525,989 sq km and a population of more than 41 million. When compared to continents, the region of Oceania is the smallest in land area and the second smallest in population after Antarctica.
“This decision will enhance the Syro-Malabar spiritual heritage, liturgical and ecclesial traditions handed down by St. Thomas the Apostle and his successors,” says Monsignor Kolencherry’s May 6 statement.
The Vatican decree specifies that the extension of the jurisdiction of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy enables better pastoral vigilance to be given to all Syro-Malabar Catholics in the extended territory. It opens new horizons to the Syro-Malabar Catholics, in the extended region.
It is also an expression of the recognition by the Apostolic See and the Episcopal Conferences of the Oceania countries that the Syro-Malabar Church is now becoming more global, through migration, the statement claims.
All Syro-Malabar Catholics in these countries have been placed under the jurisdiction of Bishop Bosco Puthur of Melbourne. He was the permanent Apostolic Visitator to Syro-Malabar Faithful in New Zealand. He has now become the first Syro-Malabar eparch of Australia, New Zealand, and Oceania.
Bishop Puthur, who will turn 75 on May 28, joined the clergy and laity of the eparchy to thank the Pope, Cardinal Sandri, and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. They also expressed their gratitude to Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of their Church, the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church, the Episcopal Conferences and the Apostolic Nuncios of Australia and New Zealand.
The statement acknowledged that the Pope’s gesture offers the Syro-Malabar Catholics in the region a mission as well as a challenge to bear witness to the gospel in the oriental spiritual, liturgical and ecclesial tradition of the Syro-Malabar heritage with a renewed vigor.