The establishment of Bethany
Ashram Pune on 24 October 1955 can be said to be the beginning of the mission of
the Malankara Catholic Church outside its canonical territory. From Pune the
Bethany Fathers took care of the Malankara Catholic faithful in Mumbai-Pune and
other parts of the country. Soon the Malankara Catholics in the other cities of
India began to organize themselves as Malankara Catholic Associations. From the
beginning of 1970s the Malankara Hierarchy directly took initiative and began
sending priests from the Eparchies to these communities.
From 1980 these
communities began to be erected canonically as personal parishes in the dioceses
where they were registered. The Hierarchy gave further support to them
appointing Rev. Fr. John Berchmans OIC in 1997 as the Co-ordinator of the
Malankara Catholics outside the territorium proprium. Under his untiring
leadership the communities got organized strongly under the banner ?The
Malankara Catholic Church Extra Territorial Regions in India (MCCETRI).
A long cherished dream of the Malankara Catholics of ETRI was realized
on February 2007 when Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas was appointed Apostolic
Visitator by Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. Later the Malankara Catholic
Episcopal Synod entrusted the pastoral care of the Malankara Catholic faithful
of ETRI to Bishop Jacob Mar Barnabas. Now under the leadership of Bishop Jacob
Mar Barnabas, the MCCETRI caters to the needs of the Malankara Catholic flock.
The present ETRI includes around 2550 families (approximately 10000 faithful) in
42 parishes/units.
