About Us

The History of the Knanaya Catholic Region in the U.S.

Since 345 A.D., the Knanaya Community has been a church-based community with local churches and a centralized church structure that coordinates pastoral activities under a Knanaya Vicar General or a Knanaya (Arch) diocese. The aim of the Knanaya Catholic parishes and missions is to provide pastoral care to the community while simultaneously promoting the ethnicity and valuable traditions of the community. Our approach involves conducting regular Holy Mass, Religious Education Schools, and all possible liturgical and pastoral services.

The migration of Knanaya Catholics to the United States led to the establishment of organized religious and cultural programs. Since they missed the Malayalam Syro-Malabar liturgy, the Knanaya Catholic Associations had contacted His Excellency Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry, the then bishop of Kottayam, to send priests to offer spiritual services for our people. As the Bishop of Kottayam lacks ecclesiastical jurisdiction in this area, he urged our community to reach out to the Latin bishops in the region and establish Knanaya Missions under the Latin dioceses, with the support of priests dispatched from the Diocese of Kottayam. A few of the Latin bishops graciously granted our request to begin Knanaya missions. The Archbishop of Chicago gave his permission, and on October 28, 1983, Fr. Jacob Chollampel arrived in Chicago to start the first Knanaya Catholic ministry in the United States. Likewise, several Latin bishops established Knanaya Catholic missions in their dioceses prior to the establishment of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago on March 13, 2001, which was ceremoniously inaugurated on July 1, 2001. This region was officially established by Mar Jacob Angadiath, the bishop of the diocese on 30 April 2006. On that day, the bishop appointed Fr. Abraham Mutholath, the then Vicar General for Knanaya Community, as the first director of the Knanaya Region. The purpose of this region is to coordinate all the pastoral activities of the diocese under the leadership of Knanaya Region director who is also one of the Vicar Generals of the diocese.

According to the decree of the Bishop, all Knanaya Catholic parishes, Knanaya missions, and all the Knanaya Catholic faithful who live in the USA outside the proper territory of an established Knanaya Catholic parish or mission will come under this region. This is a personal jurisdiction style followed in the Syro-Malabar Church in India where the Archbishop of Kottayam has personal jurisdiction over all the Knanaya Catholics within the juridical boundary of the Syro-Malabar Church. The Knanaya Catholic Region has five forane parishes, 15 parishes, seven missions, and eight convents. Rev. Fr. Thomas Mulavanal is the present Vicar General and director for Knanaya Community.

 

Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Forane Church, Tampa

In the late sixties and seventies there were large scale migration of people from India to United States in search of better opportunities. Gradually they spread to other parts of the country. The people of Knanaya decent started to settle around Tampa area in the mid-eighties. Knanaya Catholic Congress of Central Florida (KCCCF) was formed in the year 1989 presided by Fr. Cyriac Manthurthil, who was the chaplain of the Knanaya Catholic Mission in Chicago. The formal inauguration of KCCCF was done on September13, 1992 by Fr. Abraham Mutholath. The members of the community depended on the local Latin parishes to cater to their spiritual needs since there was no provision for permanent pastoral arrangement.

Fr. Abraham Mutholath motivated the Knanaya Catholics all over United States to establish new Knanaya missions and to buy churches for the missions so that they can grow as parishes. Though the Syro Malabar diocese was formed in 2001 until the formation of Knanaya region in 2006, Tampa community was under the spiritual director of Houston Knanaya Mission. Mar Jacob Angadiath established the mission on January 25, 2009 with Fr. Abraham Mutholath as the Mission Director.

Fr. Abey Vadakkekara was appointed as the director of this mission on March 9, 2009. The mission bought a church building on March 16, 2010 from the City Church of Tampa under the leadership of Fr. Abey Vadakkekara. Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath appointed Fr. Bins Chethalil as the mission director with effect from July 1, 2010. He became the first pastor of this parish when the mission was elevated as a parish. The consecration of the church and the elevation of the mission as a parish with Rev. Fr. Bins Chethalil as its first pastor, was held on August 1, 2010 by His Excellency Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath.

Fr. Pathrose Champakkara was appointed as the pastor of this parish from May 11, 2011. During his time a rectory was built in the church property and established a Knanaya Cemetery with the name Sacred Heart Knanaya Gardens in February 2012.

Fr. Dominic Madathilkalathil was pastor from October 18, 2014. During the time of Fr. Dominic, Visitation sisters established a convent in the parish. This convent was blessed on November 10, 2016 by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath, the sisters serve in the nearby hospital and at the parish.

Fr. Joseph Sauriamakil served the parish as pastor in charge from November 6, 2017 to April 30, 2018. Fr. Mathew Meledath was the pastor from May 1, 2018.

This parish was declared as a Forane Parish of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago on February 18, 2015 by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath. The official establishment of the forane was held on April 12, 2015 by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath and inaugurated by Vicar General Msgr. Thomas Mulavanal on April 12, 2015 at Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church Tampa. In 2018 a new mission, St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Mission was established to cater to the spiritual needs of people living in north Florida and Orlando area. This parish serves around 350 Knanaya Catholics families living in the Tampa Bay area

Tampa Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Parish was declared as a Forane Parish of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago on February 18, 2015 by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath. The official establishment of the forane was held on April 12, 2015 by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath and inaugurated by Vicar General Msgr. Thomas Mulavanal on April 12, 2015 at Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Church Tampa. Fr. Dominic Madathilkalathil became the forane vicar.

Fr. Jose Adoppillil is the present pastor from January 1, 2020.

The following parishes come under this forane:

  • Tampa Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Parish
  • Atlanta, GA Holy Family Knanaya Catholic Parish
  • Miami (South Florida) St. Jude Knanaya Catholic Parish
  • Orlando St. Stephen’s Knanaya Catholic Parish
VISION AND MISSION OF MISSIONS AND PARISHES

Since 345 A.D., the Knanaya Community has been a church-based community with local churches and a centralized church structure that coordinates pastoral activities under a Knanaya Vicar General or a Knanaya (Arch) diocese. This arrangement has helped to uphold the community’s faith, ethics, and solidarity. The community must preserve its church-based structure and ethnic identity, regardless of its migration location. The identity of being an Eastern ethnic church that possesses personal jurisdiction within the Syro-Malabar church allows for the possibility of Knanaites having their own Knanaya churches, which would be served by Knanaya priests. Communities across the globe must make use of this helpful situation to support and advance community development.

The aim of the Knanaya Catholic parishes and missions is to provide pastoral care to the community while simultaneously promoting the ethnicity and valuable traditions of the community. Our approach involves conducting regular Holy Mass, Religious Education Schools, and all possible liturgical and pastoral services. We must establish churches and other facilities in all areas where our people have migrated.

The Syro-Malabar church has translated its liturgy into multiple languages, including English and Hindi, to enable the upcoming generations and new converts to comprehend and take part in the liturgy. In the United States, a considerable number of our parishes and missions have started liturgical services in English, with the active participation of children and youth. The medium of Religious Education, Youth Retreat, and ministries intended for children and youth is English. It is necessary that we have more adaptations in the future.

THE FUTURE OF KNANAYA MISSIONS AND PARISHES

Unlike Latin Catholics who have migrated to the United States, the Catholics belonging to the Eastern churches have the right, privilege, and responsibility to establish their own churches and hierarchy to preserve their sui juris churches. The directives of the Catholic Church endorse this. Thus, the Syro-Malabar faithful in the United States have successfully established their own diocese, equipped with all requisite pastoral arrangements. The Knanaya Catholics who migrated from the Archdiocese of Kottayam have been granted permission from Rome to establish their own Knanaya Catholic missions and parishes with the services of Knanaya Catholic priests. This diocese of the Syro-Malabar church is the only one with this privilege. Our gratitude should be extended to the Lord and our church hierarchy for offering us this consideration. Let us seize this great opportunity to enhance our Knanaya Church infrastructure for the betterment of our community and the perpetuation of our ethnic group.

The Knanaya Missions must advance into full-fledged parishes by constructing churches and other infrastructure for pastoral activities, such as daily mass and Religious Education Schools. The primary focus of both missions and parishes should be directed towards fulfilling the pastoral requirements of the community, including but not limited to, Baptism, First Communion, wedding, funeral, memorial services, feasts of saints, retreats, prayer groups, Religious Education, and Pious Associations. Every weekend, the parishes will bring our people together for communal prayer and socializing. This will foster a sense of unity and intimacy within the community. The parishes will contribute towards the training of our children, teenagers, and youth in accordance with our liturgical and community traditions and culture. This will contribute to the development of the community’s ethnicity.

The establishment of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago bears immense significance for the Syro-Malabar church and its committed followers in North America. Additionally, it fostered the ecclesiastical expansion of the Knanaya community in this region. Prior to the establishment of this diocese, our pastoral growth was restricted. The establishment of the Knanaya Region in the United States has contributed significantly to the development of Knanaya missions and parishes. In accordance with the vision of Bishop Mar Mathew Makil, it is imperative that we work towards the development of our Knanaya Region into a Knanaya Diocese within the United States. This will enhance the community’s growth in line with the Archeparchy of Kottayam model that has made significant contributions to the advancement of Knanaya Catholics. The establishment of our Knanaya diocese requires the establishment of the maximum number of Knanaya missions and the development of these missions into parishes. The accomplishment of this objective necessitates the backing of the Syro-Malabar hierarchy. Our developmental journey heavily relies on the cooperation between us and the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago.

Contact Us

We warmly welcome you to get in touch with our Parish Community
Whether you have questions, need spiritual guidance, or need assistance with parish services.
We are always happy to hear from you.
Call us
+1 (813) 588-9328
+1 (914) 673-6956-C
Email
shkcct@gmail.com
Office Hours
Monday - Friday: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Saturday, Sunday: Closed
Address
3920 S Kings Ave,
Brandon, FL 33511
Parking
Free Parking Lot

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