The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern (Oriental) Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome. It is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church after the Ukrainian Church and the largest of the Saint Thomas Christian denominations with 5 million believers. The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church with its deep-rooted spirituality and high rate of vocations to priesthood and religious life can be considered the most vibrant Catholic community in the world. The origins of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church go back to Kerala, India. St. Thomas, one of the Apostles of Jesus, came to Kerala in AD 52 with a great missionary spirit and the zeal to preach the risen Christ and to baptise converts. Now the Syro-Malabar faithful are spread all over the world.
Currently, there are 31 Eparchial Sees and one Exarchate (Canada) in the Syro-Malabar Church, of which 5 are Arch-eparchies and 26 Eparchies. All the 5 Arch-eparchies as well as 13 eparchies are within the territory of Kerala. There are 58 bishops, 9121 priests, 35000 religious sisters, 6836 religious brothers, 2907 seminarians and above all we are blessed to have 4 more saints from Kerala, St. Alphonsa, St. Chavara Kuriakose, St. Euphrasia, St, Mariam Thresia
Christ the King Syro-Malabar Mission,
We, Christ the King Syro-Malabar Parish Holsworthy, Sydney, can trace our roots back to the strong foundations of the Syro-Malabar Church. Rev. Fr. Andrew Puthussery, celebrated the first Syro-Malabar Mass in 1982 in Sydney. Fr. Joseph Aikkaramattom continued this until Fr. Thomas Kuruthanam replaced him in 1992. Fr. Mathew Thekkedath was appointed by Late George Cardinal Pell (then Archbishop of Sydney) in 2004 as the chaplain of the Syro Malabar community.
In 2011, Fr. Augustine Tharappel was appointed by the Archbishop of Sydney, George Cardinal Pell as the new chaplain to the Sydney Malayalee Catholic Community and he continued his services until 2015. Fr. Augustine played a pivotal role in the growth of our community and formed a formal committee to coordinate the activities of the community.
The Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle, Melbourne was announced in 2013 on December 23 and the installation and inauguration of the new diocese were on 25th March 2014, the feast day of Annunciation, at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Archdiocese of Melbourne.
In 2015 December Fr. Thomas Alukka was appointed as the Chaplain to the Syro-Malabar faithful in Sydney by Bishop Bosco Puthur, the Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Melbourne of the Syro-Malabar. Under his leadership, we were named Christ The King Mission. From May 2020 onwards Fr Joseph Kunnakkattu was appointed Vicar and, weekly Mass and Catechism have been underway under the jurisdiction of Fr Joseph Kunnakkattu. Fr George Mankuzhikkary was then appointed as the Vicar in February 2023 and Fr Jerin Arimboor is the current Vicar of Christ The King Mission from June 2024. There has been great growth in the Syro-Malabar Community in many other areas across Australia and New Zealand under the care of Bishop Bosco Puthur.
