Syro-Malabar bishop makes first visit to Tasmania

By Catherine Sheehan

The head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Australia and New Zealand, Bishop John Panamthottam CMI, made his first ever visit to Tasmania recently from 28 to 30 June. He is the spiritual leader of some 80,000 Syro-Malabar Catholics in Australia and New Zealand, including around 500 in Tasmania.

Bishop John visited the Syro-Malabar communities in Launceston and Hobart, and conferred the sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation on some of the children. He said the Tasmanian community, which consists of nearly 400 families, was greatly excited by the historic occasion of his first visit.

“I’m so happy to visit all these people,” Bishop John said. “They are really excited and they’re so happy when they are visited.

“We get a chance to celebrate our own liturgy, in our own language, in our own spirituality.”

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a Major Archiepiscopal Church in full communion with the Apostolic See of Rome and is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church, the largest being the Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Boasting five million members worldwide, the Syro-Malabar Church was founded in Kerala, southern India, by St Thomas the Apostle in 52 AD and celebrates the East-Syrian liturgy which dates back to the 3rd century.

It is currently one of the fastest growing Catholic churches in Australia due to the number of migrants arriving from Kerala, and Bishop John said he and his 44 priests were stretched to the limits in their pastoral ministry to the 72 Syro-Malabar communities around Australia and New Zealand.

“More and more people are coming from India,” he said. “Every two months I am getting calls from some suburbs. These people when they gather are 40 or 50 families when they come together, they are asking for a priest. They want to celebrate in their own way because that’s part of their culture.”

Bishop John said he hoped to one day have a full-time Syro-Malabar priest stationed in Tasmania. Currently, diocesan priests originally from Kerala are assisting by celebrating Mass once a month for the Syro-Malabar community.

“Because of the graciousness of the Latin Church some of our priests are helping partially.

“Fr Vinco [Muriyadan] and Fr Edwin [Thundathil Xavier], they are working in the Archdiocese of Hobart but they are permitted to do some Masses for this particular community.”

Born and raised in a devout Catholic family in Kerala, Bishop John entered the seminary when he was only 15. After 15 years of seminary training, which is the normal formation time in India, he was ordained a Carmelite priest in 1997 at the age of 30.

After serving as assistant priest in a local parish, he obtained a master’s degree in education and was elected Provincial Superior of his order, making him responsible for 170 priests.

He came to Australia in 2015 on a five year contract, serving as associate pastor at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane, and Parish Priest in a couple of parishes before returning to India.

Taking a keen interest in environmental studies, he spent time living alone in a Carmelite monastery surround by forest in Kerala. Inspired by Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’, he established a syllabus for environmental studies from a Catholic perspective at the Carmelite university in Bangalore.

In 2023 he was appointed Bishop of the of St Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne.

Bishop John said on-going formation of the faithful in the Syro-Malabar Church consisted of four pillars—the celebration of the Mass, known as the Holy Qurbana, study of the Catechism, daily family prayer, and communal prayer, which involves groups of families coming together once a month to share a meal and pray.

He said most migrants from Kerala were looking for better opportunities in Australia and the main challenge they face is adjusting to a different culture.

“Ours is a different culture, different liturgy, different history.

“So just adjusting to new situations, it is a challenge… they have to be given spiritual accompaniment. That’s the thing that we are trying to do.”