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“His commitment to family, his dedication to the law and his personal religious faith are all elements that enrich our culture and society. In all of this, he was, for many, a true model.” | Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl on Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Feb. 13. (Catholic Standard [Archdiocese of Washington])
In the news
Diocese outside India marks growth
ELMONT, N.Y. — Decades after a change in immigration laws started a wave of Indian migration to the United States, Syro-Malankara Catholics celebrated the establishment of their first eparchy, or diocese, outside of India.
St. Mary, Queen of Peace Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy was inaugurated Jan. 23. It covers Canada and the U.S., and is headquartered on Long Island at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Elmont.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church based in the southwest Indian state of Kerala. It traces its origins to evangelization by St. Thomas the Apostle in the first century. The church has more than 435,000 members, including 11,500 in North America.
It is one of two Eastern churches that, along with the Latin Church, comprise the Catholic Church in India. The other is the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI established an exarchate for the church and named Bishop Thomas Mar Eusebius its first bishop. (Catholic News Service)
Saints under 40
Destined for devotion
St. Alphonsa, born Annakutty Muttathupadathu in 1910 in Kudamaloor, India, was destined from infancy for a life of devotion to God. Her childhood began in her grandparents’ faith-filled home, where she determined she would belong to the Lord, but at age 10 she was sent to live with her strict aunt — whose primary goal for Annakutty was to make her a bride.
Annakutty resisted to the point of burning her foot in an attempt to make her less attractive. She found her escape in the Congregation of the Franciscan Clarists; she attended its college and eventually became part of the order, taking the name Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception.
By age 20, however, Alphonsa was stricken by endless ailments and suffering. She still contributed to the congregation despite her illnesses, but in 1946 they eventually overwhelmed her and she died at age 35. In 2008 she became India’s first saint. (www.vatican.va)
