Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Metropolitan | Ernakulam-Angamaly |
| Statistics | |
| Population - Total | (as of 2017) 130,000[1] |
| Churches | 11 functional, 7 under construction, as of 2017 |
| Information | |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Sui iuris church | Syro-Malabar Catholic Church |
| Rite | East Syriac Rite[2] |
| Established | 10 October 2017 |
| Cathedral | St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Kukatpally |
| Secular priests | 88 |
| Current leadership | |
| Pope | Francis |
| Major Archbishop | Raphael Thattil |
| Bishop | Sede Vacante |
| Auxiliary Bishops | Thomas Padiyath Joseph Kollamparambil[3] |
| Map | |
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| Website | |
| Website | |
The Eparchy of Shamshabad is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Telangana, India. It was established by Pope Francis on 10 October 2017, and Raphael Thattil was appointed its first bishop.[4] 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."[5]
The new jurisdiction was inaugurated with Thattil's installation on 7 January 2018.[6] 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.[1]
