St. Mary’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a mission church under the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago established by Pope John Paul II on March 13, 2001 to serve the Syro-Malabar Catholics spread over the US and Canada.

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The SyroMalabar Catholic Church is a Major Archiepiscopal Church in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. The Church is headquartered in Ernakulam, Kerala, India. It follows the East Syrian Rite liturgy, traditionally attributed to Saints Addai and Mari, which dates to 3rd century Edessa. It is one of the 23 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic communion, and all the Eastern Catholic Churches along with the Latin Church make up the whole Catholic Church. It is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church in communion with the Bishop of Rome, second to the Ukrainian Catholic Church. The members of the Church are known as Mar Thoma Nasranis or Syrian Catholics. It is the largest of the Nasrani denominations with around 4.6 million believers and traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.

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Our Mission

“Our mission is to know and live the identity and heritage of Syro-Malabar church rooted in the faith transmitted by St. Thomas the Apostle, our heavenly Patron.”

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History of Pittsburgh Mission

Year 2008, a group of young immigrants in Pittsburgh, descending from Kerala India, wanted to have the eucharistic celebration in their mother tongue, Malayalam. This was something beyond imagination since there were no priests who speak Malayalam in and around Pittsburgh at that time. Their perseverance paved the way to have a Malayalam mass once in a month at Ss. Simon and Jude Church.

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The Flying Mission

During the early days Bishop and priests would fly from Chicago to Pittsburgh to celebrate the eucharist once in a month. We are really grateful to the Almighty for sending Bishop Angadiath, Fr. Roy Kaduppil, Fr. Vinod Madathiparambil, Fr. Matthew Munjanattu, Fr. Kurian Neduvelichalumkal, Fr. Augustine Plakaparambil who gracefully participated in the Flying Mission.

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The Road Mission

After the initial days of flying struggle, Rev. Fr. Vincent serving the Latin diocese of Wheeling Charleston. He volunteered to offer mass in the Syro-Malabar rite once a month and on special occasions for the Syro-Malabar Catholics of Pittsburgh. Father drove down from Morgantown and served the mission. He had to spend three fold of the time on the road than in the church to celebrate the mass once a month.

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Later Fr. Shibi, who came for a doctorate at Duquesne University, led the community.  As the numbers grew, the community engaged in many cultural and social activities after mass. Over the next few years, the community grew by leaps and bounds through migration from other parts of the country.  The church organized a choir, CCD, biweekly rosary, annual retreats, annual picnics, graduation, and Christmas celebrations.

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Now, Rev. Fr. Jeeson Stephan, serving the Latin diocese of Wheeling Charleston, is volunteering to offer the mass in Syro-Malabar rite and striving to take the community to a next level by completing the legal and ecclesiastical formalities step by step.

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