The first step taken by Mar Ivanios and Mar Theophilos to ensure the success of the Jacobite Reunion Movement was the foundation of the Infant Mary’s Minor Seminary at Tiruvalla. Already, it counts 25 students. At present, it is searching for books in English to form a library. Works of a general nature, such as an encyclopedia, books, and works for ecclesiastical studies, lives of the saints, and other devotional materials are particularly desired.

Copyright: The Catholic Advocate (Brisbane), 28 Dec 1933

The “Universe” correspondent in Calcutta says:

The Pope has suppressed the two dioceses in Malabar which were provisionally created at the beginning of the great conversion movement which has brought into the Catholic Church such a big proportion of the Jacobites of this part of Southern India and has created in their place a new Antiochene Province, consisting of the Diocese of Trivandrum and Tinnevelly. The former will be governed by Mar Ivanios, who will have as suffragan Mar Theophilus, Bishop of Tinnevelly. Mar Ivanios, who has been touring Europe, was not expected back in India for some time, but he has returned unexpectedly by airplane, traveling with his private secretary from Cologne to Karachi.

Copyright: Southern Cross, 13th Jan 1933.

Unexpected Departure: A Reuter telegram from Cologne states that Mar Ivanios, Archbishop of Trivandrum and leader of the great Jacobite reconciliation to Catholicism, suddenly cancelled his European tour and was hurrying back to India by aeroplane. Accompanied by his secretary, the convert Archbishop boarded the airplane at Aachen.

Route and Schedule: Travelling via Cairo and Baghdad, he was expected to reach Karachi on Tuesday, October 18.

Reason for Departure: The message indicates that the reason for the Archbishop’s sudden departure and swift homeward journey is that he has received a cable from India announcing a strong movement in favor of the reconciliation of an increasing number of Jacobites with the Catholic Church.

Developments in Ireland: Two years ago, the establishment of a Chair of Catholic Action at Maynooth was suggested at the annual meeting of the Irish Bishops. Their Lordships were again meeting at Maynooth recently, and there is a general opinion that the matter will be more definitely dealt with, and that the question of a memorial, of the Eucharistic Congress will also be discussed.

Fundraising Efforts: The Knights of St. Columbanus are endeavoring to raise £8,000 to endow the Chair, the maintenance of which will cost £400 a year.

Copyright: The Southern Cross, 2nd December 1932.

Inquiries published recently in the “Universe” newspaper have produced some extremely remarkable information concerning the number of churches dedicated to St. Patrick in all parts of the world. This week the “Universe” brings that total of such churches to over a thousand, which must be almost unequalled by any saint in the calendar, except for the Holy Family, and, perhaps, two or three of the Apostles.

Not least remarkable is that the great majority of these churches have been built within the past hundred years, when the memory of St. Patrick might have been expected to recede in favour of more modern saints. Even this year quite a number of new churches have been dedicated to St. Patrick, although one would imagine that he is much less widely popular now than he was a few generations ago.

AN ADMIRABLE PIECE OF RESEARCH

The totals, when analyzed, are most interesting. As it is hoped to provide as complete a record as possible this year, in honour of the fifteenth centenary of his apostolate in Ireland, it may be that some reader of this article overseas may be able to send further particulars to the editor of the “Universe,” at 1 Arundel-street, London. The churches are to be found in every continent. Nearly half of them are in the United States of America. The list is chiefly based upon an admirable piece of research undertaken by Mr. Frank O Reilly, the organizing secretary of the recent Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

As the Congress was to coincide with celebrations of St. Patrick’s fifteenth centenary, Mr. O’Reilly wrote to every Bishop in the world, and consulted all the ecclesiastical directories. Even so, his list did not satisfy him as being complete, and he prefaced it with a warning to that effect, in his compilation, “St. Patrick, 432-1932,” in which the list was published with a large number of illustrations.

“THEIR SOUND HATH GONE FORTH TO ALL THE WORLD:”

A correspondent of the “Universe” made an analysis of the list in Mr. O’Reilly’s book, and added to it a few more churches of which he happened to know. With these additions, he reached the astonishing total of 987. Other additions have since been made by other correspondents of the “Universe,” and this week—with a good number of other sources still to be tried—the total has reached 1001. It may be doubted whether even St. Peter has so many churches dedicated to him. Even St. Joseph may not have many more. The total is all the more remarkable because it is much larger even than the rough estimate which the Holy Father himself quoted in his message to the opening of the Dublin Congress this summer.

In his inaugural message to the Congress the Holy Father said: “And then, as one considers the great number of churches dedicated to St. Patrick in various parts of the world—and they number almost 800—churches not only to tabernacle the Body of Christ, but also to strengthen the Catholic Faith, one realizes, very well that it may be truly said of the Irish people; as it was of the pioneer preachers of our Faith: “Their sound hath gone forth to all the world!”

Actually, the total is considerably more than 200 above the figure which the Holy Father had in mind when he wrote that message.

REMARKABLE FIGURES

The figures are so remarkable in detail that I quote a rough summary of the final total published in “Universe.” The figures are: Europe (Ireland, 168; Great Britain, 82; Italy, 2; France, 1; Malta, 1) total, 254. Asia (India, 13; China and Korea, 4); total, 17. Africa, 13. North America (U.S.A., 461; Canada, 65; Newfoundland, 1; British West Indies, 5); total, 532. South America, 2. Oceania (Australia, 164; New Zealand, 4; Hawaii, 1); total, 169.

MORE CHURCHES TO ST. PATRICK

Those were the original figures in the “Universe.” They showed, incidentally, that no less than nineteen of the churches were Cathedrals, six of these being in North America and five in Oceania.

But within a week another correspondent added yet another Cathedral at Bangalore, in India, which had been omitted. Another correspondent, just home from Burma, said that he had regularly attended another Church of St. Patrick in Northern Burma, which was not included in the original list. Another new Church of St. Patrick, near Liverpool, had been recently opened by Archbishop Downey, and yet another in County Armagh by Cardinal MacRory. Another was found at Sheffield, which had been overlooked, and two more in Scotland. Then two more were reported from France—one in a suburb of Marseilles, and the other in a village called St. Patrice, after the saint, not far from Tours.

Then two more were added which were, perhaps, the most remarkable of all the additions. The Indian convert, Archbishop Mar Ivanios, had recently issued an appeal for funds to build new churches for the convert Catholics in Malabar. The success, and the immense possibilities of his apostolic work among the schismatic Christians of Malabar, have attracted a great deal of attention in this country. He had asked for donations to help him in building little churches which could be erected at the amazingly low cost of £130, with an extra £30 for their equipment, and £60 to build a presbytery in each case. It is not often that one hears of the chance of building a complete church for so small a sum, and the appeal has met with several replies. Mar Ivanios went to Dublin for the Eucharistic Congress. Soon after he returned to England he received a letter from a donor offering him the sum he required for a church, with a request that, if possible, it should be dedicated to St. Patrick, to commemorate his fifteenth centenary.

A CHURCH IN MALABAR

I happen to know the anonymous donor, and he showed me the letter of grateful acceptance which Mar Ivanios sent in reply. He said that when he was in Ireland for the Congress he had been deeply moved by the evidence of such marvelous fruits from St. Patrick’s mission, and that he had vowed then to dedicate a church to St. Patrick in Malabar if he could raise the money he needed: He had been praying for this specially at every Mass since his return; and he regarded the anonymous donor’s request as, a direct answer to prayer. So one more dedication was announced in the “Universe.” And within a fortnight another donor, also anonymous, had given a second church to Mar Ivanios with the same request. The two anonymous donors are not the same person. Both are Irish Catholics whose lives have been spent in far-distant countries.

A TRIBUTE TO THE IRISH MISSION

With these two new churches the number of dedications to St. Patrick in India alone, without counting the two in Burma, now total 15, so far as is yet known. It is, indeed, an amazing tribute to the vitality of St. Patrick’s Irish mission that when a convert Indian Archbishop undertakes to spread the Faith through so remote a place as Malabar, he should do it under the invocation of St. Patrick. The other churches in India are mostly small chapels built at different times to accommodate the Catholic soldiers in the old Irish regiments of the British. Now that the Irish regiments have ceased to exist, the British regiments in India still contain a fair proportion of Catholics, and the chapels dedicated to St. Patrick will still serve them. But it was surely not to be expected that the native converts of Malabar, converted by their own native Archbishop and his convert clergy, would invoke the same dedication.

IN AFRICA

In Africa also, St. Patrick will be the local patron saint of many missions. Mr. Frank O’Reilly had difficulty in obtaining details of the churches in all parts of Africa, and his list of 13 churches for all Africa is admittedly incomplete. The “Universe” has already found two more, which were not included in his list—one at Sherbro, in Sierra Leone, and one at Pekina, in South Africa. In case any reader of this letter may be able to supply other details of other churches, I give the thirteen others in Mr. O’Reilly’s list. He includes five small structures in the Gold Coast and Ashanti. The other eight are: Two in Natal (at Bellair and Umbogintwini); two in South Africa (at Nackora and Kimberley); one in the Orange Free State (at Kroonstad); one in Tanganyika (at Morogoro); and one each in Madagascar and Mauritius.

WIDESPREAD DEVOTION

Assuming that the list is complete for South Africa, the Gold Coast, and Tanganyika, it seems probable that there are other churches dedicated to St. Patrick in those districts, especially like Eastern Nigeria and the Cameroons, where Irish missionaries have been labouring. It will be surprising if there are not churches dedicated to St. Patrick in Uganda and Kenya also. Of how many saints could one expect the same widespread popularity and devotion in places so very far remote from the scene of his labours, and so very many centuries after his death? Nor is there apparently any sign of the long list coming to an end. New churches dedicated to him have this year been either opened or begun in India as well as in Ireland and in Great Britain. The vast majority of his churches—including all in America and Canada and Australia, and most of those in Ireland and England—have in fact been built in the past hundred years. Yet some are of great antiquity, and the list includes some which are now in Protestant hands, including three Cathedrals in Ireland which bear his name, and at least nine pre-Reformation churches in England or Scotland.

THE APOSTOLATE OF ST. PATRICK

The persistence of such dedications to him is, indeed, all the more remarkable, because in Ireland itself, and among high Catholics in Great Britain popular devotion to St. Patrick has undoubtedly suffered a considerable eclipse. Most modern churches in Ireland are usually dedicated to some modern saint like the Little Flower, or to show reverence for some modern shrine of Our Lady like Lourdes. In O’Connell’s time, and even much later, up to the end of the last century, St. Patrick was the first dedication that occurred to Irish people. But of late there has been a marked change. Even the custom of wearing shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day tends to disappear.

It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that in quite modern times the apostolate of St. Patrick has extended to a much wider field—to China and Africa—where Irish missionaries are labouring among races of a different color as well as a different creed; and that while devotion to him among his own people and their direct descendants has declined, the elite of his apostles have taken the whole world as their province.

Copyright: The Advocate 13th October 1932

Archbishop’s Appeal: As a result of his recent appeal, Archbishop Mar Ivanios has received from an anonymous donor £130 to build one of the many churches he and his brother Bishop, Mar Theophilos, need for their many converts from the Jacobite Church.

Dedication to St. Patrick: Mar Ivanios has decided to dedicate the church to St. Patrick, as he vowed he would do while he was attending the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin.

Expansion Plans: The convert Archbishop hopes to build another church with the same dedication this year so that India may have 15 churches dedicated to St. Patrick to correspond with the 15th centenary of St. Patrick’s apostleship. Mar Ivanios is able to build a church for £130, equip it for £10, and add a priest’s hut for £60. Altogether he needs 46 new churches.

Global Comparison: The church dedicated to St. Patrick which Mar Ivanios is to build on the Malabar coast will be India’s 14th named after the Apostle of Ireland, and the world’s 987th. The U.S.A. leads the way with 461 churches under this dedication. Ireland has 168, closely followed by Australia, which has 164. The others are in Great Britain (82), Canada (65), Africa (13—and probably more), India (13), British West Indies (5), New Zealand (5), China and Korea (4), Italy (2), South America (2), and one each in Newfoundland, Malta, and Hawaii. No fewer than 19 out of the 986 are Cathedrals.

Copyright: The Newcastle and Maitland Catholic Sentinel : the official organ of the diocese of Maitland. (1 October, 1932)

“NEWMAN OF INDIA” — ARCHBISHOP MAR IVANIOS — THE STORY OF HIS CONVERSION — A MYSTERY AT MALABAR — TRIALS SUFFERED BY THE CONVERT CLERGY — MAR IVANIOS’ VISIT TO BRITAIN — ENCOURAGEMENT OF NATIVE MISSIONS BY THE HOLY FATHER.

LONDON, July 19.

Mutual movn: England. any great people tii re Mar Ivanios not a Uni> 0n his. v back from the Eucharistic Cont-r ,.= in Dublin, Mar Ivanios. the leader the Jacobite conversion to union whh the Holy See in Malabar, lias : paying visits to various parts of i.J;ind and Scotland. His name lw- :. :>oared frequently in the Catholic r,’ iispapers, and he is often describei; r, -.lie Cardinal Newman of India. B ‘ • ; lie analogy is far from representin: she whole case. was tlic U i.-lor of a highly Newman intellecciit within the Church of id there was no hope of .-inversion of the common .irii hi? conversion. in, nn the other hand, was fixity preacher like Newman, but ilie Jacobite Archbishop of a very important district in India when he became P. Catholic two years ago. He was one of the heads of an important Church with a great popular following. Ami the movement which ht lias brought about may yet result in the conversion to Catholicism of a population more numerous than the entire Catholic body in England in the time- of the Oxford Movement.

THE STORY OF HIS CONVERSION.

The’story of his conversion and its far-reaching sequel is roughly as follows: Time are about 500,000 Indian Jacobites in the native State of Travancore” aw! in Cochin and Malabar. Most of them are concentrated in the Malabar which is a long strip of land on the south-west coast of- India, extending from Calicut in the north to Cape Coiiimin. Surrounded by the Ghat mountains and the sea, it has developed very much on its own lines as a separate country with its own traditions and religious beliefs. It is believed that St. Thomas brought Christianity to Malabar within a few years after the crucifixion of Our Lord: and liis shrine at Mylapore has been ;t centre of pilgrimage since long before any recorded history of the region. Centuries later the Christian population came under the influence of the Nestorians; they became schismatic and were for long out of cominur.i.v.i with the Church. But the Jesuit?, with their headquarters at Goa, s«i;i (cried in winning them back to union with the Holy See; and their reconciliation was confirmed in 1599, when they were allowed their own Syro-\f;.lrih;>r rite. Some thirty years ago they were given a native hierarchy by Ler \ni.; and there are to-day about 5”i.OOO of them in union with Rome, r.irler the native Archbishop of Em A:,! urn and his three suffragan Bishop r, under ; sites. Malabo 1662, n recent! joined ” der t’i Patriar As the .sc’: :”CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS.” Theivf. “Christians of St. Thomas,” as the;.- r.re usually called, were, howeve r >.aborted for a time by the immigration of Jacobite Christians who, had sep :: ated from the Church in the ntthcci..-ary (“the time of St. Patrick), ; influence of the Monophy- •iey migrated from Syria to • n large numbers; and, in •y of the Christians who had been reconciled with Rome ” ‘li them as schismatics, unurisdiction of the Jacobite • of Antioch. •suit of that migration and which it provoked, there are no v. roughly 500,000 Jacobites of Wious -orts in Malabar. In modern tpes t Protestant missionaries had £ ade f -at efforts among them, and oy 0f free schools ha<J suc. weded ,n gaining considerable influence Without actually becoming 7 1 ” s o m e 140,000 of them have aaoptecl various Protestant doctrines, Particular ly in regard to the Real Presence and devotion to Our -Lady:

THE REMBANS.

Faced with this modern tendency towards Protestantism, the main body of Jacobites in Malabar decided to set up a Church of their own, independent of the Patriarch of Antioch, and owning allegiance to their own Catholikos. In most rcspects they shared the doctrines of the Catholic” Church, except for refusing to acknowledge the Pope and his infallibilit}’. and also in regard to their belief in the nature of Christ. Their clergy are all obliged to be married; but their bishops must be celibates, and are chosen from a group of ascetics called Rembans, who until they become bishops are cut off from all ordinary work within the Church.

PERSONAL DETAILS.

Mar Ivanios was born just fifty years ago, and by a very rare dispensation he was allowed to enter the priesthood without being married. He was given charge of a school at Kottayam, and later appointed professor of palaeography at a college affiliated with Calcutta University. There he established a hostel where his disciples addressed themselves. But with work that could long he turned to Malabar, bringing his students with him. There he founded the first monastery of its kind in Malabar, calling his community the “Brotherhood of the Imitation of Christ.” In 1925 he was consecrated a Bishop, and three years later he became Archbishop of Bethany, being specially commissioned, with his suffragan Bishop, Mar Theophilos, to build up a new diocese.

RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH IN 1930.

Soon after becoming a bishop he was troubled by the lack of any supreme authority within the Jacobite Church. In 1927 he went straight to the Catholikos to lay his doubts before him. The Catholikos shared his feelings; and in the belief that union with Rome would have to be accomplished, he commissioned Mar Ivanios to enter into negotiations with the Holy See. But the Catholikos died while the negotiations were in progress, and he was succeeded by another Jacobite prelate who was out of sympathy with the proposals. So the possibility of a corporate reunion fell through; but Mar. Ivanios himself had gone so far that he felt unable to hold back. In September, 1930, he was received into the Catholic Church; and the Pope not only recognized the validity of his consecration, but allowed him to continue as a Catholic Bishop, changing his title later from Archbishop of Bethany to Archbishop of Trivandrum.

FOLLOWED BY HIS PARENTS.

Returning to his own family, he found his parents eager to follow him; and before long the convent of religious women which he had founded became Catholic also. At the monastery which he had founded all but five of the monks followed him; and most important was the conversion of his suffragan bishop. Mar. Theophilos, and of 31 of his clergy. Nearly as many more are at present under instruction with a view to following him. Of the laity, fully 8000 have since submitted to the Holy See; and Mar Ivanios has also made a remarkably large number of converts among Hindus, some of them being Brahmins.

TRIALS OF THE CONVERT CLERGY.

The converted clergy have suffered very much the same trials and deprivations and abject poverty which followed the conversion of “Mr. Newman’s victims,” as they were called at the time of the Oxford Movement. Active persecution and even violent opposition to the converts has also been widespread. They have been boycotted and have, in some places, been greeted with the hoisting of a black flag when they have appeared. But the movement of conversion under the missionary leadership of Mar Ivanios has met with astonishing results. One of the most curious stories is of a place where thieves stole all the material he had collected to build a little church. Instead of invoking the law, Mar Ivanios got his nuns to pray that the material might be recovered. Within four days the thieves returned what they stole and had hidden in the river bed, and they all became Catholics.

THE NEEDS OF MAR IVANIOS.

At present Mar Ivanios is touring England and Scotland and appealing for funds to carry on the work of conversion, which has been proceeding so rapidly. His chief need is small village churches, and he is in a position to promise that a church can be built for £130 and equipped for only £10 more, while a priest’s house will cost only £60. There can be few missionary countries where such fruitful results may be expected from such very modest financial requirements. The population are already Christian and almost Catholic. They are apprehensive of the future of their own Church, and they recognize in Mar Ivanios a religious leader of extraordinary simplicity and deep piety.

NOT A MERELY PERSONAL MOVEMENT.

Two points concerning this movement in Malabar deserve special attention. The schismatic population which may be regarded as susceptible to this modern movement for unity with Rome is fully half a million. It is not a mere personal effort on the part of Mar Ivanios; for the late Catholikos was fully in sympathy with his efforts, and his suffragan bishop has already become a Catholic. Moreover, two of the clergy who became Catholics with them were already bishops-designate in the Jacobite Church. It would be too much to expect the whole Jacobite Church to follow their lead; but the total of 500,000 Jacobites is much larger than the large Catholic population of Ceylon; and it compares with a total of less than 2,900,000 Catholics in all India.

THE HOLY FATHER’S ENCOURAGEMENT.

Secondly, the encouragement shown by Pius XI. to this native Church carries out the general policy of encouraging native Churches, and the formation of native hierarchies and clergy, which the Holy Father has pushed forward so vigorously as the “Pope of the Foreign Missions.” In his famous encyclical outlining his missionary programme, he emphasized the fact that he was continuing a policy which had been vigorously adopted by Benedict XV. But the policy goes further back. It was Leo XIII. who established a native Hierarchy for the Christians of St. Thomas in Malabar. It was he also who, before the end of the last century, prophesied that the conversion of India would be effected by Indians themselves, and that it would spread through India from the south.

Copyright: The Advocate, 1 Sep 1932

By the Rev. John J. Considine, M.M., Director of FIDES Service

Most Reverend Mar Ivanios, Archbishop of Bethany, India

The two most discussed Christians in India today are Mar Ivanios and Mar Theophilos, Archbishop and Bishop, respectively, of the Syro-Malankara Catholics. The year 1930 saw this new rite established in the Church, the outcome of the conversion of these two prelates and a group of followers from the schismatic Jacobite Church of India’s Malabar Coast. Good fortune gave me an exceptionally fine opportunity to see these two men and their movement at their best.

A word or two to make things clear. The Syro-Malabar Christians, who trace their beginnings to St. Thomas the Apostle, lived in peace and unity until the 17th century. Then there were difficulties, and when the smoke of battle had cleared one-half were outside the Church. Among these schismatics there are several divisions today, but an important body calls itself the Jacobite Church.

The Submission

Among the Jacobites the last two decades have been marked by many quarrels. Nevertheless, there was an element which desired Christian spiritual life in all its richness. This group was led by Rev. Father P. T. Geevarghese, M.A., who established a monastery in the hill country near Ranni, gave it the name of Bethany, and founded the Order of the Imitation of Christ. At Tiruvella, a few miles from Changanacherry, he founded a community of women, and called them the Bethany Sisters.

In 1925 Father Geevarghese was consecrated Jacobite Bishop of Bethany under the name of Ivanios, while in 1929 one of his monks of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, Father Jacob, was consecrated Bishop of Tiruvella under the name of Theophilos. In that year also Mar Ivanios was made a Metropolitan, or Archbishop.

But a year later, in September 1930, the Jacobite Church was aghast to learn that these two prelates, the most distinguished of their leaders both intellectually and spiritually, had made their submission to Rome.

And the Sacrifices

On a Saturday afternoon the Bishop of Changanacherry drove me out to the village of Tiruvella, where both of these men now live. Our first call was to the home of Mar Theophilos. Once the honored leader of the community, now to most of the inhabitants he is a renegade. The Jacobites support their clergy well, but all that he had in the past he has forfeited.

We found him seated in the porch of a match-board house with a thatch roof — his episcopal palace, his seminary, and the residence of his priests. Nearby is a match-board building, likewise with a roof of thatch; this is his cathedral.

This prelate of a nascent Church draws one to him from the first. His greeting is very simple; he is quiet and reserved, cultured in his speech and bearing, physically attractive, with a litheness and suppleness in his movements, and with thoughtful eyes which bespeak sincerity. When I made reference to the interest and sympathy for him and Mar Ivanios throughout the Catholic world he seemed very pleased. Undoubtedly, he feels the need of lifting his eyes above the things about him, for nearby the consolations are few.

Hooted and Mocked

Some 150 of the finer and more heroic souls in Tiruvella have joined him, but all are hooted and mocked about the village. His Excellency told us with a smile that only an hour before our visit his aged aunt had called and loosed upon him the floodgates of her fury that he had gone to Rome. It is sad, he remarked, because among the Jacobites there is so much goodness, however misguided.

A mile and a half away is Mar Ivanios. He was forced to abandon Bethany, and here likewise in Tiruvella he has erected a shanty as a temporary home. Tiruvella and northern Malabar will remain as the field of Mar Theophilos, while southern Malabar is to be his territory. He must soon fix on a place of residence. He likewise was working seated on the porch as we approached.

As he rose to greet us I agreed immediately with all that I had heard about his power of personality. He is a large figure with a superb beard which seems to approach almost to his deep soulful eyes. He has a patriarchal air which sends one hurrying back to Biblical days. Though there be 20 persons in a room, when he enters it his presence fills it.

But Conversions Grow

His Excellency showed me his primitive house and chapel. He recognizes that it is to develop a church, for he has plunged wholeheartedly into the task of administration. He has two lay secretaries and a brother of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, his assistant. Both during this visit and on later occasions, I felt the pulse of a project which advanced with spirit.

He presented to me a man who came to offer him a piece of land worth 1000 rupees, on which to erect a church. Another came to say that 60 families in his village wished to be received. Still another reported 40 families ready.

Not that there were not difficulties. His Excellency spoke of a droll case of fanatics, who dragged the barber away from a convert after he had cut one half of the Romanist’s head of hair. His Excellency immediately sent word that he would come and finish the job himself.

The Momentous Step

In company with Mar Ivanios, we visited the Bethany Sisters nearby. These women have made bitter sacrifices on entering the Church. Not only have they cut themselves away from all their friends, but they were forced to abandon the high school which they conducted, and in which they took such pride. Many of them are well-educated young women with university degrees.

His Excellency showed me the chapel there, one morning some 18 months ago, he made the momentous address in which he told them of his proposed move, freed them from their vows, and suggested that they feel at liberty to leave if they so desired.

The Mother Superior spoke for the group, and assured him that they desired to follow him. He remarked somewhat facetiously that women may be fickle; would they betray him later? ‘Test us,’ replied the Mother, ‘you find that we shall be faithful when men will fail you.’

It was evening when Mar Ivanios brought us to the new monastery of the Order of the Imitation of Christ. At our approach the monks hurried to the gate with candles, and led the two prelates to the chapel, where their founder-Archbishop gave a long blessing. Both Mar Ivanios and the monks were clad in the saffron robe he had chosen for his Order, the color worn by Hindu holy men. Certainly, I felt as I gazed from the rear on the group in the dim candlelight, there was nothing European in that scene; here were the makings of Christian sanyasi.

Sunday morning I went to the matchboard church of Mar Theophilos, and attended his Mass. A Syrian priest accompanied me, and it was almost as great an experience for him as for me, since the ceremonial in no way resembles even the Syro-Malabar Mass. The Holy See has permitted the new body to retain everything which the Jacobites profess, except, naturally, their doctrinal errors. Their liturgical languages are Syrian and Malayalam.

Despite the humble setting, there was beauty and spiritual depth to this Indian Mass.

Sunday afternoon I attended a remarkable gathering at Ranni, a strong Jacobite center, where 2000 Jacobites answered the invitation of the Catholics and sat under a great pandal, or temporary conference hall, and listened to arguments why they should enter the Church.

Mar Ivanios was the principal speaker and displayed his exceptional powers as an orator. Though he spoke in Malayalam, I could not help but notice how he held the people during an entire hour and 20 minutes, employing the vigor and assurance of an accomplished speaker, beautiful modulation, adroit change of tempo, sometimes singing portions of the Jacobite ritual, which he introduced into his argument.

‘He speaks very tellingly,’ said the Bishop of Kottayam, who was one of the five Bishops on the platform. ‘He is a master both in Malayalam and English, far surpassing many long in the Church.’

Son of a Fighting Race

This gathering at Ranni is but one of a long series which have been organized by the Syrian Catholics in recent years, at some of which as many as 10,000 people have listened to the orators. We in Europe and America stand in admiration of the work of the Catholic Evidence Guild in Hyde Park and elsewhere in England, but certainly we must bow low in recognition of this apostolate of our brothers of Malabar. The world knows too little of this vigorous Catholic body.

One very special treat awaited me — a day with Mar Ivanios in a visit to his paternal home, some 20 miles away. This day was precious, since during it I got some little insight into Mar Ivanios the man. We drove into the grounds of the old homestead, and entered the two-storied dwelling where his father and mother still live. His father, 89 years old, was still able to hurry to greet him, as was also his mother, a small and withered old lady of 85 years, who buried her head on his breast.

We went to the upper verandah, and to some chance query of mine Mar Ivanios explained that for 1400 years his family has lived in this village of Mavelikara, which was once the residence of the King of Travancore. His folks long were fighting people and were given lands for service to their sovereign.

‘It was interesting,’ he said, ‘for me now to recall that when I was a boy of nine his sister was sick, and near the hospital where she was treated was a Catholic chapel, in which his mother prayed. ‘It is to that church we should belong,’ she remarked to him one day, ‘because I find in it many holy people.’ It was her saintly life as a Jacobite which led him to the priesthood; and when he finally entered the Catholic Church he reminded her of her remark to him long ago. ‘Ah, yes,’ she cried, ‘and I still believe it. I will follow you.’ His father did likewise.

It was the strong historical position of the Catholic Church which first won his attention, but what drew him with inexorable force into the fold was the holiness in the Church, her army of saints. He loved as a Jacobite to read their lives, and he would find himself crying out almost fiercely, ‘I want to be with them! I should be in their Church!’ Finally, it came to pass.

By the time these lines appear, the world will probably know Mar Ivanios a little better since he has attended the Eucharistic Congress in Dublin. And it will be the richer for the knowing.

Copyright: The Catholic Press. 25th August. 1932

Archbishop Mar Ivanios Interviewed

A great figure at the Dublin Eucharistic Congress was that of His Grace, the Archbishop of the converted Jacobites of Malabar. Stopping in Rome on his way to the Eucharistic Congress at Dublin, Mar Ivanios received the Archbishop’s Pallium from the hands of the Holy Father himself, on May 2, 1932. An interesting feature of the ceremony was the fact that His Grace read the profession of faith in English: the language of his own liturgy is Syrian, and he is unacquainted with Latin. The Holy Father spoke to him in English, calling him ‘Good son.’

Interviewed by a member of the ‘Fides’ staff, His Grace told something of the Bethany movement.

“The Christians of the Malabar Coast are an ancient community evangelised in the early days of the Church and called the St. Thomas Christians,” he said. “Socially they are equal to the highest caste of Hindus and are recognised as such by the Hindus themselves. They are just as Indian as any other people of India, and they are highly respected by their countrymen. They are geographically isolated, and this has kept them from having any extensive contact with the other peoples of India up to now.

“In the 17th century, the Monophysite heresy found its way into this community, and a great number fell into schism, the separating part becoming the Jacobites of Malabar, and the faithful being known as the Syro Malabar Catholics. About half a century ago a number of these Jacobite heretics, educated in Protestant schools, imbibed much of the Protestant spirit. They wished to impose their ideas on the whole Jacobite sect, but the leaders of the latter would not stand for it. They seceded, therefore, from the Jacobites and became a schism within a schism. They are called the Mar Thomites. Both the Jacobites and the Mar Thomites have Bishops and Archbishops. The two sects together have orders of the Mar Thomites. The Jacobites today number 354,000; the Mar Thomites 128,000.

“Both of these heretical sects have their own associations for the propagation of the faith or ‘Evangelical Association’ as the Mar Thomites call it. These latter are the more active and carry on missionary propaganda in and out of Malabar. Their methods are more those of the Protestants. They have a great number of schools, and also a few hospitals and dispensaries.

“I was born in the Jacobite sect. I was educated at the University of Madras and later went to the University of Calcutta as a professor in political economy. While at Calcutta continuing my study of the history of Christianity and reading the lives of the saints I was led to question the position of the Jacobite Church, but I continued to practise my religion sincerely. After a time I gave up my position as professor and with a small group of students retired into the forest to start a monastery. There had been solitaries in the Jacobite Church before, but this was the first time that a monastic order had been attempted. At the same time, I became the spiritual adviser for a group of young ladies studying at the University of Calcutta who wished to form a sisterhood. Both congregations later moved to Travancore. Some time afterwards I was asked to accept a Bishopric in Travancore. My conscience would not allow me to make the profession of faith demanded in the consecration whereby I should have to anathematise St. Leo. This part is introduced into the profession of faith made by Jacobite Bishops because of St. Leo’s connection with the Council of Chalcedon, which the Jacobites repudiated. I was told that since this was not considered an article of faith I might omit it if I wished. I was therefore consecrated Jacobite Bishop of Bethany.

“It was only after I had become Bishop that I was convinced of the unsoundness of the Jacobite position. Attempting to convert pagans, spiritualise the Jacobites and organise and build up my Archdiocese was like trying to build on sand, for to me it appeared to be apart from any Church authority. I also felt that Protestantism was individualistic and minimised the bearing of religion on the corporate life of humanity. The schismatical eastern churches were organised originally on linguistic bases, and later on nationalistic and political bases, and failed to comprehend the humanity-wide implications of the True Religion. My life as a religious brought to me the conviction of the absolute necessity of obedience for the well-being of the Church. I also became convinced of the absolute necessity of the principle of an infallible head for the infallible Church. The Catholic Church alone satisfied my soul’s craving for religion which would help to perfect the individual in divine grace and serve for all mankind as a divinely outlined means of salvation. This is the conviction that led me to make my submission to the Holy See.

“I took steps immediately to inform the Holy See of the thirst of my soul to be received into the unity of the Catholic Church. The Holy Father received me with open arms and extended to me through Archbishop Edward Mooney, the then Apostolic Delegate in the East Indies, a ‘Welcome, a Big Welcome!’

“The 20th of September, 1930, is a memorable day in my life because it was on that day that I had the happiness of making my submission to the Vicar of Christ. On that day only five people made their profession of the Catholic Faith — myself, my suffragan Bishop Mar Theophilos, one priest, one deacon and one layman. On Christmas, 1931, I was able to send to the Holy Father as a Christmas gift the names of 5199 souls from Jacobitism and from paganism received into the Church since my submission. Today this number is about 8000 from Jacobitism and about 800 from paganism.

The Present Status

“The two religious communities with which I was connected before my conversion came into the Church with me. Of the 24 Brothers, 19 became Catholics, and of the 13 Sisters, all became Catholics. Today the Jacobite converts are divided into two ecclesiastical territories: one under Mar Theophilos, who has his headquarters at Tiruvella, and the other under myself, with the centre at Trivandrum, the capital of Travancore. The statistics for these two territories, which we gave to the Indian Catholic Directory when it was being compiled a few months ago, were: — Archbishop 1, Bishop 7, Religious Priests 8, Secular Priests 8, Deacons 5, Catechists 6, Religious Women 14, Chapels with Resident Priests 5, Mission Houses 9, Mission Stations 57, Seminary 1, Seminarians 38, Orphanages 1, Catechists for pagans 5.

“The continual development since then has resulted in a great increase in these figures. As yet I have no seminary in my territory. I send my ecclesiastical students to the seminary of Mar Theophilos at Tiruvella. We are planning, however, a seminary for convert priests where priests converted from Jacobitism and Anglicanism may receive a scientific course in theology. It is expected that after a time this seminary will no longer be needed for this purpose, and then it can be converted into a seminary for young boys aspiring to the priesthood.

Difficulties

“The chief difficulty may be said to be the extreme conservatism of the people. They have a great prejudice against things foreign and are loth to make any drastic changes. Ignorance and bigotry are also grave obstacles. It is hoped to overcome the former by a crusade of enlightening propaganda by means of the press and through personal contact. The latter can be overcome by prayer and good example.

“The Jacobites have organised or have tried to organise opposition against the movement. Social ostracism and boycotting as well as anti-Catholic propaganda are their chief weapons. At first, the Jacobites refused to believe that the Holy See had recognised our Rite; and when they realised that it was really recognised and that the converted prelates were kept in their former jurisdiction, they became very apprehensive about the future of their church and began to use all kinds of means to prevent conversions. On several occasions, I have been hooted by mobs, and have seen a black flag hoisted to herald my coming to a village. Once fanatics stopped the car in which I was. riding and offered the driver 500 rupees to take me across a precipice; they had valued my life at 500 rupees. The converts have all had to suffer a hundred and one little persecutions and inconveniences.

“The possibilities in this field are great. The Catholics of Malabar have a real vocation to convert India. As already mentioned, they are respected by the Indians, considered just as much Indian as the rest of them and not denationalised. They are considered equal socially to the highest Hindu caste, and thus they are in a position to exert a strong influence over their countrymen. To the present, due to their geographical isolation they have not made their influence felt to any considerable extent outside of Malabar, but now they are realising their opportunities and getting ready to make the best of them.”

Copyright: The Catholic Journal – Freeman’s Journal, 30th June, 1932

Mar Ivanios, asked that he be reunited with the Holy See. This was granted, and his episcopal powers were recognized. Thus, he became the “Newman of Jacobitism,” for he was soon followed by the Bishop-designate of the schismatic Church, the Bethany Monks, the Bethany Sisters, several Jacobite priests, and great numbers of adherents of the Church. So remarkable has been the move towards Rome that competent authorities believe the schism will be extinct within half a century.

Last week we published an illuminating interview with Archbishop Mar Ivanios, wherein the prelate told why he joined the Catholic Church. The Archbishop, who is now Catholic Metropolitan of Bethany, has written to the editor of the ‘Catholic Press’ giving further details. The letter follows:

Catholic Archbishop’s House,
Tiruvella, Travancore,
S. India,
31st March, 1931.

Dear Editor,

I write to introduce myself to you as the Archbishop Metropolitan who was recently reunited with the Holy See. It was very kind of you to have published the photo.

Please find enclosed a letter from his Excellency the Bishop of Kottayam, introducing me to you.

I take the liberty to enclose the copies of two letters — one that I wrote to the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch, imploring his Beatitude to abandon his schism and enter into the unity of the True Church; the other I wrote to some of the priests of this country who appeared much interested to know of the progress we were making in the direction of conversion and organization.

If you consider that the publication of accounts about us will interest your readers, you are perfectly free to make use of these letters, and, in fact, we shall be very glad.

I understand that the Very Rev. Ramban Joseph Pulikot, formerly Bishop-designate of the Jacobite Church, and who has followed me into the Catholic Church, is forwarding to your address a few photos, and the translation of a farewell speech delivered by a leading Jacobite priest to his former congregation on the eve of his departure from the Jacobite Church. I trust you will be glad to publish these.

With best wishes and blessings on all your efforts in the cause of our Holy Faith, I remain, yours in Our Blessed Lord,

IVANIOS, Archbishop of Bethany.

Letter to Jacobite Patriarch.

JOY IN THE TRUE CHURCH.

Extracts from the Archbishop’s letter to Maran Mar Ignatius Elias, Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch, Mosul, are as follows:

I trust your Beatitude is aware of the great step the Holy Spirit enabled me to take in that I made my submission to the Pope, the successor of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and was thus re-united with the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I am supremely happy in that the most merciful Lord gave me this privilege. But my joy and happiness can never be complete unless and until your Beatitude and all the Jacobites forsake their schism and enter into the unity of the True Church.

Our Lord founded one Church only. He founded it on St. Peter. He entrusted the keys of the Kingdom to St. Peter. He authorized St. Peter to confirm his brother Apostles in the True Faith. He gave the Universal Pastoral charge to St. Peter. The Pope is the true successor of St. Peter. He is the Universal Bishop of Christendom, the divinely appointed center of Unity for the visible Church on earth, and the infallible guardian of the Catholic Truth.

May I on bended knees implore your Beatitude to consider this true doctrine which is clearly set forth in the Sacred Scriptures, and in the above quoted and hundreds of other passages in the ecclesiastical and dogmatic books of your Communion, and to ask Our Divine Saviour for the grace of the humility of heart, which alone can give the light to see and the strength to obey the will of God and enable you to make due submission to His Holy Will and heal the wounds in His Body. If only your Beatitude will prayerfully consider this matter, I am confident that the Divine grace will not fail you. For the reunion of Christendom is God’s Holy Will. And the Holy Father the Pope, and the entire Catholic Church, are praying in this Church Unity Octave, for the return of the separated Christians to the True Fold of Christ.

The Schism of the 5th Century.

There are two schisms which your Beatitude can heal by a single act. The first of these is primarily concerned with your own people in Syria and Turkey. It is the great schism which took place in the East in the middle of the 5th century when the followers of Eutychus and Dioscorus disobeyed the Universal Church, and repudiated the Pope and the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. Though the Jacobites anathematized Eutychus later, and in principle adopted the Chalcedonian definition of the Catholic faith, the schism has continued to this day.

The second is one that is confined to the Christians of St. Thomas in Malabar. In the 17th century, a section of these Christians revolted against the Catholic Church and went into schism for merely personal and social reasons. This schism had nothing to do with faith and dogma. Later on, the schismatic Christians of St. Thomas accepted the supremacy of the Jacobite Patriarch, and thus nominally became Jacobites. The immediate cause of the schism was a false rumor that the Portuguese had drowned a Bishop come to Malabar from the East. This Bishop was not a Jacobite, and was not sent here by the Jacobites.

The Jacobite Christians of St. Thomas in Malabar have, during the past two and a half centuries of their connection with the Jacobite Patriarchate, suffered and lost a great deal. The greatest loss is the loss of Catholic Unity. In the 19th century, a section of the St. Thomas Christians fell under the influence of Anglican Protestants, imbibed Protestant teaching, and became adherents of the Church Missionary Society (Anglican), while another section constituted itself into an independent Church — called the Mar Thomas Church — whose teachings are no less Protestant than those of the O.M.S. The Mar Thomites are about 100,000 strong now. In the beginning of the 20th century, the remaining Jacobites who are over 300,000 strong, were again split into two, and wasted much of their resources in mutual conflicts and protracted litigation. The corruptive influence of repeated schisms and internecine strife has brought spiritual life to an extremely low level.

Taught by the Holy Spirit.

Your Beatitude is aware that I spent all my life for the service and spiritual amelioration of the Jacobite Church. And, later in life, the Holy Spirit most wonderfully taught me that true charity was impossible of attainment in a schismatic body, and that those who resist the will of God and obstinately continue in schism and heresy deserve eternal damnation.

The Holy Spirit taught me and my brother, Bishop Mar Theophilos, and the religious congregations of monks and sisters that God guided me to found, that perfection of humility and religious obedience were impossible of attainment in the Jacobite Church, which itself was founded on pride and disobedience. We discovered that all the work we did in the Jacobite Church was simply building on sand.

Our Lord built His Church on Rock — on the Rock of St. Peter. Since the Pope is the true successor of St. Peter, for anyone to attempt to build apart from the communion of the Pope, is to attempt to build apart from Christ.

I most humbly pray that your Beatitude return to the True Church. The Holy See has always been ready to receive Eastern schismatics and give them every facility to enable them to return to the Unity of the Church. The memorandum that I submitted to the Holy See expressing our desire to be received into the Catholic Church received the most sympathetic consideration.

Your Beatitude is also aware that the Catholics of the Puro Syrian Rite in Syria were most cordially received by the Holy Father. They use practically the same Missal and ritual as the Jacobites do and have their own Hierarchy. Since their reunion with the Holy See, they have made progress in every way, while those who persisted in schism have steadily declined. Social and moral degradation has been the consequence of spiritual degeneration. Systematic rejection of divine grace on the part of the schismatics has met with its inevitable reward.

Providence has called your Beatitude to your present position. I believe the Holy Spirit invites your Beatitude to surrender yourself entirely to His guidance, forsake your schism and enter into the unity of the Catholic Church by confessing the entire Catholic faith and making your submission to the Pope — the one center of unity for Christendom. . . . The Pope, the Vicar of Christ the King, guides and rules the entire Church on earth with the joyful cooperation and loyal support of all the Patriarchs, Archbishops, and Bishops who constitute the Hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

I am confident that if your Beatitude would have the humility to return to the House of God, your Beatitude will be able to lead several thousands of schismatics into the Catholic Church, and thereby assure their salvation and bring abundant glory to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is the charity of Our Lord Jesus Christ that has constrained me to write this humble letter to your Beatitude. May I, with all the humility of heart that I am capable of, implore your Beatitude to do all that lies in your power to heal the Jacobite schism and gather all the scattered Jacobites into the unity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. For it is the will and prayer of the Lord that ‘they may all be one.’

Letter to Priests.

In his letter to the priests, Archbishop Ivanios said:

I believe that you have been praying for us. You can realize how deeply I feel for those schismatics who still remain outside of the Catholic Church and are consequently deprived of the great blessing and spiritual consolation that is the birthright of the true children of God. My anguish is all the greater in that some of those dear ones, whom I love so much in Our Lord, have turned out enemies, not only of me and those with me but also of the True Church of Christ.

However, the Archbishop was full of hope and told of much success and many difficulties overcome.

Forty Years a Jacobite Priest.

FAREWELL ADDRESS TO CONGREGATION.

The farewell address of Rev. Father Thomas Kalaikkattil, alluded to in our letter from Archbishop Ivanios, was delivered in the Jacobite Church of Kaviyur, on Sunday, February 8, 1931. After the sermon, he left the Jacobite Church, proceeded to the neighboring Catholic Church, and made his profession of the Catholic faith before the Right Rev. Mar Theophilos, Bishop of Tiruvella. In part, he said:

I have to tell you something difficult and equally painful to you and me, I have determined to enter the Catholic Church, for I find it more conducive to my future peace of mind, joy of heart, and tranquility of conscience. When I came to this parish, 36 years ago, there was no church here. The people had to go to the Kalluppara church, which is three miles away. I started this church. From the day in which the first stone was laid for this church till this moment I have been your Vicar and have, I believe, served you most faithfully. And all these years you have truly loved and respected me and rendered me all necessary help. While I express my heartfelt thanks to you for all this, I ask your prayers and solicit your goodwill in the future.

Sacred Heritage of Catholic Past.

Even after those ancestors of ours who fell into schism, we continued to recite the Nicene Creed, as ever before. I am so thankful that we have preserved this Creed and the sacred heritages of our Catholic past. Our holy liturgy and the sacred books and the rituals and services come from very ancient times, and they really belong to our Catholic past; I very much desire to preserve these most sacred ancient treasures and yet be in communion with the Pope, who is the Head of the Visible Church on earth. His Grace Mar Ivanios, Archbishop of Bethany, now resident close to us at Tiruvella, which is only three miles from here, has marked out a way and opened a road for us to cross over from schism into the unity of the Catholic Church. His Grace, as you all know, has all his life labored and spent for the glory of God and the sanctification of souls in this country. During the past ten years, his Grace has done a wonderful spiritual work in this parish and surrounding parishes. The Bethany monks have been systematically visiting this parish at my request, conducting missions, hearing Confessions, and sanctifying many lives. His Grace Mar Ivanios and the Bethany monks, who were the real spiritual leaders and beacons of spiritual life in the Jacobite Church, are no longer members of the Jacobite Church. In September last, they made their submission to the Pope and united with the Catholic Church.

I ask you, men and women, to consider why his Grace Mar Ivanios and the Bethany monks and sisters left the Jacobite Church. It cannot be that they had any earthly purpose in view. For His Grace, who was the most respected prelate of the Jacobite Church, has nothing worldly to gain by this change. Men, money, and influence he had in plenty. The sacrifice that he made compels me and you to consider the question why he left the Jacobite Church and joined the Roman Catholic Church. I have considered it to the best of my ability. His Grace and his followers have realized one great Truth, that Our Lord has only one Church, that the Jacobite Church is a schismatic body, that it is the will of God that believers in the Divinity of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, should all belong to one Church. That one Church is visible on earth. That one Church has one center and one head. That center and head are the Pope.

I am convinced that it is the will of God that I should live the rest of my life as a Catholic and die as a Catholic. Whenever a Jacobite Bishop visits our Church and gives Benediction to the people, they sing a hymn in response. Some of you have sung it, and all of you have heard it. I recite it now for your information.

Rest on the Rock of Peter.

‘To those who raise controversy with her, the Church says, ‘I am built on Simon, Cephas (the Rock), and I have seventy pillars. The saints are treasured up in me. I am built by the prophets and confirmed by the Apostles; the martyrs are enshrined in my bosom. The fortification around me is impregnable. I resemble the adorned bride, and I stand firm in Christ, my Bridegroom.’

The Church is built on the Rock of St. Peter. Mar Ivanios has taken his barque through the ocean of life and found rest for his soul and for the souls of all of us, in Jesus Christ, on the rock of Simon Peter. And I have decided to be in his barque. In the name of God, I invite you all to abandon your schism and unite yourselves to their Lordship, Mar Ivanios, and Mar Theophilos. For they are united with the Pope — the Center of Unity for the Christian Church.

I invite you all to pray for me and for the reunion of Christendom. I invite you also, if you like, to come to the adjoining little hut, which serves as the chapel of his Grace Mar Ivanios, and witness the profession of faith that I shall make in the Catholic Church. It was my desire to be received into the Catholic Church by his Grace Mar Ivanios, who is my own spiritual father.

My most dear people, don’t imagine that I am deserting you. I am just doing what God and my conscience command me to do. I am doing that which will, I hope, eventually bring you all into the bosom of Our Lord and of His True Church.

Thirty-six years ago I came to you a black-bearded young man, full of energy and enthusiasm. Now, I leave you an old man, bent with age and weakness, and with a grey beard. Thanking you for your past kindness to and cooperation with me, I take leave of you for the present. Reflect and pray. God will guide you. Farewell!

May God bless you all.

Pathetic Scenes.

At the end of the sermon, pathetic scenes occurred in the church. The whole congregation was in tears, and many kissed the hand of the priest with deep emotion and followed him into the neighboring Catholic Church to witness the profession of faith of their former Vicar.

Rev. Father Thomas Kalaikkattil is a priest of considerable influence in the Jacobite community and is no doubt an asset to the Catholic Church.