The Father and Head of the Syro-Malabar Church, the Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil undertook a pastoral visit to the Arabian Peninsula from 11th November to 18th November 2024 accepting the invitation of Bishop Aldo Berardi (OSST), the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Vicariate of Arabian Peninsula. It was his first visit after the election as the Major Archbishop.
This official visit was linked to Pope Francis granting the Syro-Malabar Church jurisdiction over its faithful in the Gulf region to strengthen its pastoral care, marking a significant shift in church administration . The Syro-Malabar Church has a very strong presence here. The Major Archbishop visited Kuwait on 11th and 12th Nov 2024 , then proceeded to Qatar, where he spent the next two days and finally to Bahrain for three days and returned on 18th November.
The program included celebrations of Holy Qurbana, ecumenical prayers, and several meetings in the three countries with priests serving the communities, pastoral groups, church officials and councils, catechism teachers and associations like SMCA and SYMS. He interacted with all the clergy and joined their community events. He participated in inter-religious dialogues and interaction with various groups and communities that serve the multicultural population of the vicariate of Northern Arabia.
Bishop Aldo Berardi, the Apostolic Vicar, welcomed the Major Archbishop and his team warmly in all the places. Throughout the visit, the Major Archbishop Thattil was accompanied by Bishop Aldo Berardi, the region’s new Apostolic Vicar, who expressed his fraternal affection and face of a united Church. Under the able leadership of the Apostolic Vicar, all the programs in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain were very well organised and meticulously planned with the aid of the members of the Curia, all the priests, and other collaborators under the Vicariate and all other concerned. Every celebration was well attended by the priests and faithful.
In his welcome address, Bishop Aldo Berardi emphasized the importance of unity across Catholic rites in the region and highlighted that the move respects diverse liturgical traditions, and the focus remains on maintaining unity. Bishop Aldo Berardi also pointed out a few challenges that include logistical issues like sharing places of worship; the integration of Syro-Malabar priests that requires collaboration; relationships with local civil, political and religious authorities that need careful management. He mentioned that civil recognition of the sacraments is a concern, and coordination between the Vatican and Eastern Churches is essential.
‘This visit’, Bishop Berardi commented, both ‘reinforced the spiritual commitments of the local Syro-Malabar community, and underscored the importance of them being active participants in the wider community’.
Collaboration between rites is emphasized as vital to maintaining the churches’ unity amidst legal and societal complexities in the region.
In his meetings with the local Syro-Malabar community, which are entirely migrants, the Major Archbishop stressed the importance of maintaining a strong connection to one Catholic faith. At the same time, preserving the identity, patrimony, and heritage also very much needed to contribute positively to the community at large and to strengthen the beauty of the Catholic communion. He mentioned that the unity and uniformity shall not be misunderstood. Keeping own identity always remains a challenge but it is not to be neglected because it is a source of beauty of the Catholic Church even if it costs efforts. In the face of expressing the uniqueness of each rite, our keen efforts shall be for being connected to the different communities that make up the local Church. The Major Archbishop thanked the local Church for sharing the space and personnel for different sui iuris churches and requested the same in the future. He exhorted the faithful to keep the vision and mission of structuring a new ecclesiastical system in their place of migration.
It is estimated that we have about 500,000 faithful in the Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Yaman and UAE. More than 2500 student take part in Catechism both in Qatar and Kuwait. A similar visit of the Major Archbishop to Oman and UAE which is part of the Southern Vicariate is scheduled from 25th November to 2nd December 2024.
The historic visit of the Major Archbishop strengthened the ties between the Syro-Malabar Church and the Latin church in the Arabian Peninsula especially in the Northern Vicariate and emphasized fostering unity and understanding between the two Churches in a multicultural environment. Moreover, the visit paved the way for a gradual and smooth handing over by implementing the decision of the Holy Father Pope Francis who graciously declared on the jurisdictional rights to the Syro-Malabar Church over the Syro-Malabar faithful residing in the Gulf countries.
