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Syro-Malabar Church in the U.S. gathers for joyful celebration of unity

July 13, 2026 · 1 min read

CHICAGO — While most Christians can’t trace their faith lineage to a specific saint, Syro-Malabar Catholics know exactly who brought their ancestors the faith. They proudly call themselves “St. Thomas Christians” — descendants of the first Christians to whom St. Thomas the Apostle brought the Gospel in Kerala, India, in A.D. 52.

The Syro-Malabar community came together July 9–12 in Chicago for “Syro26,” a jubilee convention not only to honor its 25th year as an official eparchy in the U.S. but also to reaffirm and celebrate its unity as a church after liturgical disputes in India nearly led to a schism last year.

Counting some 5 million members worldwide, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is the largest of the 22 Eastern Catholic churches in communion with Rome. Originally found mostly in India, the church has experienced explosive growth in the U.S. during the 21st century.

Just 25 years ago, St. John Paul II established the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy to serve the growing immigrant community. Headquartered in Chicago, the eparchy — what Western Churches call a “diocese” — has jurisdiction over the entire U.S., a region that includes some 87,000 souls who attend…

Source: Catholic News Agency · Read the full story →

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Gheorghe Radu

Good thing they were able to come together in Chicago and emphasize unity after coming close to a schism last year. It is impressive how 87,000 faithful St. Thomas came to have their own diocese in the USA in just 25 years. St. Thomas would be proud, I think.

Daniel Wilson

That's pretty cool how they trace everything straight back to St. Thomas in A.D. 52. Good they got together in Chicago and focused on unity after almost splitting last year. Our own parish could learn something from that.

James Campbell

That's interesting they can point to St. Thomas in 52 AD so clearly. Our choir director once mentioned how the early Indian Christians kept the faith through trade routes long before the Portuguese arrived. Have you ever been to one of their liturgies here in the U.S.?

Rebecca Davis

Yeah, tracing it straight back to St. Thomas like that is impressive. Our parish had a Syro-Malabar priest visit last year for a weekday Mass, and the way they kept everything focused on unity after those troubles in India really stood out. Have you read much about how they settled the calendar disputes?

Mary Thomas

Yes, tracing it all the way back to St. Thomas in A.D. 52 is something they hold onto tightly. I read that the calendar issue was mostly resolved by letting individual dioceses decide on the Syro-Malabar or Gregorian one for now, which seems practical after all the tension. Did the visiting priest mention anything about how that plays out in the U.S. parishes?

Photini Miller

Yeah, that visiting priest really emphasized how the whole point is staying one church no matter what. I hadn't dug into the calendar fixes much, but letting dioceses choose for now does sound like a sensible way to cool things down. Did he celebrate the Qurbana in the traditional style at your parish?

Samuel Mitchell

The calendar compromise does sound like a sensible patch for now. Our own parish here in Pittsburgh sticks with the Syro-Malabar calendar most of the year but switches to Gregorian for big feasts if the bishop okays it, and it keeps everybody from arguing in the parking lot after Liturgy. Did you catch whether the Chicago gathering leaned one way or the other on that?