Kochi, Jan 10 (PTI) Bishop Raphael Thattil of Shamshabad diocese has been elected as the head of the influential Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Church after the Ukrainian Church.
On Wednesday, the church announced that the new Major Archbishop of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church was elected during the Synod meeting held at Saint Thomas Mount in Kakkanad, near here.
Thattil succeeds Cardinal Mar George Alenchery, who recently resigned from the post of Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese.
The Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese is the seat of the Syro-Malabar Church head. Besides it, Kerala houses four more archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Church.
The Church, with a following of five million believers, has 30 eparchies in India and abroad.
Earlier, the name of the new Major Archbishop was submitted to the Vatican for approval.
The official announcement was made after the Pope approved Thattil's election to the top post.
The announcement of 67-year-old Thattil's election was simultaneously made in the Vatican and at Saint Thomas Mount in Kakkanad.
In a letter to Thattil confirming his canonical election as Major Archbishop, Pope Francis said, "I pray that, after the example of your venerable predecessors, you may strive to offer a generous and fruitful pastoral ministry to the flock now entrusted to your care."
"I likewise urge you especially to remember the poor and those most in need. May the Holy Spirit foster the unity, fidelity and mission of the Syro-Malabar Church, so that it may grow and flourish under your paternal guidance", the Pope said.
Thattil is the fourth head of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the 23 Eastern (Oriental) Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome.
Born to Ouseph and Thresia in April 1956 in Thrissur, Thattil was ordained as priest by Archbishop Joseph Kundukulam in Thrissur in December 1980.
Earning a doctorate on "Clerical Formation in the Syro-Malabar Church: A Historico-Juridical Study" from Rome, he served in various posts of the church in India before being ordained as a Bishop in April 2010 and appointed as Auxiliary bishop of Thrissur and Titular Bishop of Bruni.
Pope Francis named him the first Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad in Telangana in October 2017.
Thattil's appointment came at a time when the Syro-Malabar Church was undergoing a significant crisis in its history, marked by protests from a strong section of priests belonging to Ernakulam-Angamaly against the alleged decision of the Church synod to impose uniform Holy Mass celebrations and the church's land dealings.
Speaking to the media, Thattil said his dream is to keep everyone together and move forward.
Reacting to a query about the Holy Mass crisis in the Church, he said that after listening to everyone, a decision will be made on how a solution can be reached in this matter.
He said that crises are like horizons, and no crisis signifies the end. Instead, each crisis represents a new horizon, akin to a sunrise.
Thattil also expressed his belief that from every crisis emerges a new dawn.