Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Melbourne
Sancti Thomae Apostoli Melburnen(sis) Syro-Malabarensium
Eparchy immediately subject to the Holy See · Syro-Malabar Church · Melbourne, Australia
Syro-Malabar eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle covering Australia (with missions in New Zealand and Oceania), established 23 December 2013 as the second Syro-Malabar eparchy outside India. Its seat is the Cathedral of St. Alphonsa in Melbourne, consecrated 23 November 2024 by Major Archbishop Mar Raphael Thattil. Bishop John Panamthottathil, C.M.I. has led the eparchy since 14 January 2023, succeeding Bishop Bosco Puthur.
The see
- Rank
- Eparchy immediately subject to the Holy See
- Tradition
- Syro-Malabar Church
- Erected
- 23 December 2013
- Latin
- Sancti Thomae Apostoli Melburnen(sis) Syro-Malabarensium
- Annuario code
- 001002839
The see in figures
- Extent
- 7,692,024 km²
Figures as recorded in the register, from the Annuario Pontificio and the see's own published statements. Shares and ratios are computed from the two figures shown beside them.
The bishop
- Eparch
- John Panamthottathil, C.M.I.
- Born
- 31 May 1966
- Birthplace
- Peravoor
- Institute
- CARMELITANI DELLA B. V. MARIA IMMACOLATA (C.M.I.)
A see whose chair stands empty is recorded as vacant rather than filled with a guess. On what a bishop is, see the bishop.
The cathedral
St. Alphonsa Cathedral, Melbourne stands in Melbourne, the church that holds the cathedra from which this see takes its name.
On what a cathedral is, see the cathedral; every see church on earth is gathered at the cathedrals.
History
For Syro-Malabar Catholics across the whole of Australia there is the St. Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne, erected by Pope Francis on 11 January 2014. It was only the second eparchy of the Syro-Malabar Church established outside India, following the Eparchy of Chicago.
What is kept by invitation
The record above is published because it is public: what this see is, when it was erected, who holds its chair, and where it stands among its neighbours.
The working record is not. The chancery's address, telephone and email, the clergy of the see, and the hours of Mass, confession and adoration in the parishes within it are kept for members, and a person reads every request.
Sources
The see's own website · Wikipedia
This record is compiled from the published statements of the see and the references of the Holy See, among them the Annuario Pontificio. On the method, see the keeping of the record. Whoever finds an error is asked, in charity, to write: [email protected].