Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad
Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Shamshabad Eparchia Shamshabadensis | |
|---|---|
| Catholic | |
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Territory | Covers 23 states and 4 union territories including 2 islands |
| Ecclesiastical province | Ernakulam-Angamaly |
| Metropolitan | Mar Raphael Thattil |
| Statistics | |
| Population |
|
| Parishes | 37 parishes, 69 missions |
| Churches | 11 functional, 7 under construction, as of 2017 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Syro-Malabar Church |
| Rite | East Syriac Rite |
| Established | 10 October 2017 |
| Cathedral | St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Kukatpally |
| Patron saint |
|
| Secular priests | 72 (52 diocesan, 20 religious) |
| Auxiliary Bishops | |
| Map | |
| Website | |
| shamshabaddiocese | |
The Eparchy of Shamshabad is an eparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church based in Telangana, India. It was established by Pope Francis on 10 October 2017, and Mar Raphael Thattil was appointed its first eparch. In a letter to the bishops of India, Francis cited India's decades of experience with "overlapping jurisdictions" of different sui iuris churches. He wrote: "With the growth of spiritual friendship and mutual assistance, any tension or apprehension should be swiftly overcome. May this extension of the pastoral area of the Syro-Malabar Church in no way be perceived as a growth in power and domination, but as a call to deeper communion, which should never be perceived as uniformity."
The new jurisdiction was inaugurated with Mar Thattil's installation on 7 January 2018. The cathedral is the St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Church at Kukatpally, in Greater Hyderabad.
There are 130,000 Catholics in the Shamshabad diocese with eleven functional churches and seven under construction.