Knanaya Region

Knanaya Catholics from the Archdiocese of Kottayam, Kerala began to migrate to the United States in the 1950s. They came mainly for education and later for job opportunities. However, they eventually settled in this country and brought their family also to the United States. When they came to this foreign land, they missed their Syro-Malabar Malayalam Qurbana and wanted to arrange it for prayer followed by a social gathering. They arranged such Holy Mass whenever they could get a Syro-Malabar priest who came either for studies or for work in American parishes.

The Knanaya Catholics in Chicago got organized and appealed to the Bishop of Kottayam Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry on 17 January 1981, to send a priest to meet their pastoral needs in the Syro-Malabar Rite. Since Bishop of Kottayam has no ecclesiastical jurisdiction outside the proper territory of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala, he wrote a letter to His Eminence Cardinal John Cody, the Archbishop of Chicago on 18 March 1981, seeking his help to establish a special ministry for Knanaya Catholics in Chicago. Because of some confusion created by some other people, the cardinal postponed his decision.

When Most Rev. Joseph Bernardin became the new Archbishop of Chicago, Bishop Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry wrote to him asking to reconsider the former request to start a special ministry for Knanaya Catholics in Chicago. At the direction of the Archbishop of Chicago, his chancellor convened a meeting of the Knanaya Associations on 27 September 1983, and decided to start the proposed ministry. Bishop Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry sent Rev. Fr. Jacob Chollampel from the diocese of Kottayam in October 1983 to serve the newly constituted ministry.[3]

Following the example of Knanaya Catholics in Chicago, the Knanaya Catholic migrants in the other cities of the United States also applied to their local Latin bishops to start Knanaya Catholic missions for them. Bishop Kunnacherry also recommended for the same and sent priests from the Diocese of Kottayam to serve the Knanaya Catholic Missions established by the Latin bishops. Thus the Latin Catholic dioceses in the United States established nine Knanaya Catholic missions before the establishment of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago in 2001. They are Chicago (1983), Brooklyn, NY (1993), Westchester and Bronx, NY (1993), Houston (1994), Dallas (1996), Newark, New Jersey (1996), Rockland, NY (1996), Philadelphia (1999), and San Jose (2000).

When Pope John Paul II established the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago in 2001, all the Knanaya Catholic faithful in the United States who had become part of the local Latin parishes and the nine Knanaya Catholic Missions under the Latin bishops came under the pastoral jurisdiction of this diocese.[4] Considering the desire of the community and to help him with the pastoral administration of the Knanaya Catholic faithful in the diocese, Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath appointed Rev. Fr. Abraham Mutholath on 3 October 2001 as one of the two Vicar Generals (Syncellus) of the diocese with special charge of the Knanaya Catholics. Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath officially accepted all the Knanaya Catholic missions in the United States on 29 October 2003 as part of his diocese and asked the mission directors to continue their service in their respective missions.

First Vicar General Rev. Fr. Abraham Mutholath motivated the Knanaya Catholic faithful in the different parts of the United States to start Knanaya Missions wherever possible and to buy churches to grow as parishes. The first church was brought in the City of Maywood in Chicago in 2006. Later more churches and missions were added.

Since the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago is spread all over the United States, Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath established seven regions in his diocese on 28 April 2006. One of these regions is for all Knanaya Catholics in the diocese. According to the decree issued by the bishop, "The formal Knanaya Catholic missions and the faithful of the Knanaya community living in other places where no formal missions are established will make one region".[5] Vicar General Rev. Fr. Abraham Mutholath is appointed as the director of this region. The official declaration of this region was held at OLV Church Chicago on 30 April 2006, by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath.

Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath appointed Rev. Fr. Thomas Mulavanal as the Vicar General and director of the Knanaya Catholic Region on 8 February 2014.

Sanctuary of Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Forane Parish, Chicago, the first Knanaya Catholic Parish outside Kerala.

Exterior view of Chicago Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church, the first church of the Knanaya Catholics in the diaspora.

His Excellency Mar Jacob Angadiath has raised the following parishes of the Knanaya Region of the diocese into forane status on 28 February 2015.[6]

• Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church, Chicago, IL
• St. Mary's Knanaya Catholic Church Houston, TX
• Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church Tampa, FL
• St. Stephen Knanaya Catholic Church Hempstead, NY
• St. Mary's Knanaya Catholic Church San Jose, CA

• Commemorative Souvenir 2001, Syro-Malabar Catholic Convention, Inauguration of St. Thomas Diocese of Chicago, Episcopal Ordination of Mar Jacob Angadiath, Editor in Chief: George Joseph Kottukappally.
• Diocesan Bulletin, The Official Bulletin of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago, October 2001.
• Karakkatt, Bijo (Executive Editor), Tenth Anniversary Souvenir of Chicago Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Forane Parish, 2016.
• Karukaparambil, Dr. George. (2005). Marganitha Kynanaitha (ക്നാനായ മുത്ത്) (English Book), Kottayam: Jyothi Book House.
• Mathrusmruthi (മാതൃസ്മൃതി), Church establishment Souvenir, St. Mary's Knanaya Catholic Parish, Chicago, 2010.
• Mutholath, Abraham. (2014). Preservation of the Ecclesial Nature of Knanaya Community in North America. Jacob Kollaparambil and Baiju Mukalel, (Eds.). Kottayam: Centenary Symposiums. pp. 497–505.
• Mutholath, Fr. Abraham & George Thottappuram, "വടക്കേ അമേരിക്കയിലെ ക്നാനായ റീജിയന്റെ ഉത്ഭവവും വളർച്ചയും," (The Origin and Growth of the Knanaya Region in North America") Silver Jubilee Souvenir, Missionary Society of St. Pius X, 2009, pp. 51–56.
• Silver Jubilee Souvenir - 2008, Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Parish, Chicago.
• Souvenir 2011, St. Pius X Knanaya Catholic Church, Los Angeles, January 2012.
• Karakkatt, Bijo (Executive Editor), Tenth Anniversary Souvenir of Chicago Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Forane Parish, 2016.
• Uralil, Baby (Ed.). (2001). The Future of Knanaya Community in America. (അമേരിക്കയിലെ ക്നാനായ സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ ഭാവി) (Malayalam Language). A collection of papers and speeches at the Millennium Conference held at New Jersey organized by KCCNA from 17–19 November 2000.

• Knanaya Region
• St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago
• Archdiocese of Kottayam
• Syro-Malabar Church
• www.homily.info Homilies by Fr. Abraham Mutholath