India's Syro-Malabar Catholics pin hopes on new Church head
Archbishop Raphael Thattil has the gargantuan task of settling a decades-old liturgy row and dubious real estate deals
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Archbishop Raphael Thattil has the gargantuan task of settling a decades-old liturgy row and dubious real estate deals
Raphael Thattil takes charge amid a raging liturgy dispute that caused division within the Church
The 67-year-old Bishop of Shamshabad was elected yesterday by the local Synod in Kochi and confirmed by Pope Francis. In his first words to the faithful, he said that “we should stand together and work together.” The Eastern rite community of six million members has been shaken in recent years by a major row over the liturgy centred in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
Bishop Raphael Thattil was elected major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly by more than 50 Syro-Malabar bishops in southern India this week.