Syro-Malabar Carmelites from India Come to Transcarpathia
05.07.2006, [12:11] // Kaleidoscope //
Two Carmelite priests of the Syro-Malabar rite in India are studying the Ukrainian language and Liturgy in southwestern Ukraine’s Transcarpathia Region so that they can eventually start a monastery there.
Fr. Joseph and Fr. George want to start a monastery near the city of Mukachevo, in the Trancarpathia Region. Certainly, across the Carpathian Mountains in Halychyna, western Ukraine, monasteries are started often enough. What is unusual is that Fr. Joseph Palatty and Fr. George Ambalathil are Carmelites of the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from the Kerala Province of southern India. They have been invited by Bishop Milan Sasik, apostolic administrator of the Mukachevo Eparchy of the Greek Catholic Church, to start a Carmelite monastery in his eparchy.
RISU’s English-language editor, Matthew Matuszak, spoke with Carmelite Fr. Joseph Pallatty at Blessed Theodore Romzha Greek Catholic Theological Academy in Uzhhorod, Transcarpathia Region, on 27 June 2006.
Correspondent: Was it difficult for you to come to Ukraine?
Fr. Palatty: It was very difficult to get a visa to come out here. To America and other European countries it is not much problem… We had to try many times. We had to go to New Delhi, the capital of India, which is thousands of kilometers from Kerala.
Our provincial, Fr. Matthew Azhakath, will come here and he will talk to the bishop about starting our monastery in Ukraine. Then he will make an agreement.
For the time being we are staying with the seminarians to study the language and the Byzantine-rite Liturgy… So I cannot tell about details. It depends on the visit of Fr. Azhakath.
Correspondent: What is the current status of the establishment of a Carmelite monastery in Transcarpathia?
Fr. Palatty: Bishop Milan Sasik has already bought a site near Mukachevo. Once we went there. It is not finished… I think somebody has given a building to the bishop. I think Bishop Milan studied in Italy. He had contact there with Carmelites, so he thought of calling us, Carmelite priests, to serve. Because we belong to the Syro-Malabar rite [which follows the ecclesiastical tradition of Antioch, today in present-day Turkey -- editor’s note], it is more similar to the Byzantine rite. Our former provincial came to Ukraine last year and he knows Italian and he talked very much to the bishop. But this new provincial hasn’t come yet.
Correspondent: Please tell us your impressions of Ukraine.
Fr. Palatty: When we came here in the month of January, everything was strange for us. Because it was still winter, cold, very cold. This was the first time we saw snowfall…Now it’s ok.
The food is very different, the climate, the Liturgy, the culture.
Correspondent: What will be the mission of your monastery?
Fr. Palatty: If we start the monastery, we will do a lot of the works that we do in Kerala. Because our dimension is spiritual, prayer-oriented, we conduct retreats for the youth, all kinds of people… And of course we have to understand the culture and nature of these people. Only then can we go according to our mission activities, because these people were oppressed by the communist regime.
Last week I went to a church for the feast of Corpus Christi [celebrated on Thursday]. I counted 40 persons there, 5 children, and 35 older people, aged 50 to 55. These children were below the age of 10. So in-between there was no one, a great gap.
But when you go to Kerala, there will be 2000 or 3000 people, children, youth.
Also, I went to many churches on feast days and Sundays. In Mukachevo, that church is very active. There are many people, many youth organizations. Some churches are very active, but in some churches I don’t see people, because you have that kind of [Soviet] background.
In Kerala, families will gather at 7 or 8 o’clock and pray the rosary. Here the people will go to this city and have some kind of drinks. Here also many of the youth smoke. I am not blaming them… In India we also have this, but here it is too much.
Correspondent: What kind of prospects do you see to get Ukrainian vocations for your Carmelite monastery?
Fr. Palatty: When we establish this monastery, in a few years we may get vocations. We also started monasteries in the northern part of India. There are few Catholics there. Now we are getting vocations from that. After 10 or 15 years, we’ll get vocations here. The people will come and know about our ministry and our mission activities.
It is difficult to get vocations from Europe. Many monasteries are closing. The people want to lead a worldly life… In Kerala also, nowadays, we don’t get so many vocations. They are slowly, slowly decreasing. In the beginning there will be 20 or 30 students. Later there will be five or six, after the study of philosophy.
Correspondent: Are the seminarians here interested in learning about India?
Some seminarians in Uzhhorod do not know anything about India and our rites, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar, Roman Catholics. They think it is a Hindu country. Of course, only 2% of the population is Catholic, [but it is] very active, we have more dioceses.
The bishops are like small kings in Kerala. They have much influence with politicians. If they say something to a minister, he will do it. But this is in Kerala. I’m speaking about my experiences.
Correspondent: Do the seminarians here know anything about the Syro-Malabar Liturgy?
Fr. Palatty: The seminarians here haven’t seen our Liturgy, and many of the brothers ask me to see the CD of my ordination. I was ordained in 2004. Many seminarians saw it and they appreciated it. There were 3000 people at my ordination. So the seminarians here can change their attitudes after seeing that.
We celebrate with the Fathers here in the Byzantine rite. [In the Muchakevo Eparchy, the Liturgy is celebrated in Old Church Slavonic, not in modern Ukrainian – editor’s note.] Last week, Fr. John, he’s from America, he asked me to celebrate the Liturgy in the Byzantine rite here in the chapel. But Father told me, “even though you make mistakes, we know you are studying, we’ll support you.” So because of their help and support I celebrated. It is now summer, so there are few seminarians, a private celebration.
Once they asked us to celebrate the Syro-Malabar Liturgy, but only once, and then they didn’t mention it again, so we didn’t celebrate, because to celebrate we have no problem, but there must be some people to respond. So, we have to integrate. I told Fr. George we can celebrate with two or three people who know a little English, the Our Father, some psalms, Alleluia. They will be very happy, and they can see our Liturgy, also. In India we celebrate the Liturgy in the vernacular, Malayalam. We know English also, but in Kerala people speak Malayalam.
Correspondent: Thank you for the conversation.
