MAJOR ARCHBISHOP MODIFIES THE TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES OF TWELVE EPARCHIES OF SYRO-MALABAR CHURCH

In a landmark decision reshaping the ecclesial map of the Syro-Malabar Church in India, the Synod of Bishops unanimously approved the reorganization of the territories of twelve eparchies. The decision was finalized during the II Session of the XXXIII Synod of Bishops, held from 18 to 29 August 2025 at Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad.

The reorganization process began in July 2020 with a proposal to redistribute portions of the Eparchy of Shamshabad-spread across twenty-three States and four Union Territories, including two islands-among eleven adjacent eparchies. This process involved multiple rounds of consultations with the Apostolic Nunciature and the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

After receiving the formal assent of the Apostolic See (Prot. N. 0488/21/IN & N. 9370/25/IN from the Apostolic Nunciature and Prot. N. 200/2020 from the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches), the Synod proceeded with this long-awaited territorial realignment to ensure greater pastoral efficiency, administrative clarity, and ecclesial harmony across India.

Having fulfilled all canonical requirements and completed the necessary formalities in accordance with c. 85 of the CCEO, His Beatitude Mar Raphael Thattil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, issued decrees on 28 August 2025, the Feast of St. Augustine reorganizing the territories of Adilabad, Bhadravathi, Bijnor, Chanda, Gorakhpur, Jagdalpur, Kalyan, Rajkot, Sagar, Satna, Shamshabad, and Ujjain.

The 12 Eparchies are reorganized as follows:

The territory of the Eparchy of Adilabad is reorganized by including, together with the four civil districts of Telangana already under its jurisdiction – Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, and KumaramBheemAsifabad – the following 13 civil districts of Telangana: Nizamabad, Jagityal, Peddapalli, Kamareddy, RajannaSircilla, Karimnagar, JaishankarBhupalpally, Mulugu, Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Mahabubabad, Kothagudem, and Khammam.

The territory of the Eparchy of Bhadravathi is reorganized by including sixteen additional civil districts of Kamataka-Haveri, Davangere, Chitradurga, Uttara Kannada, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Raichur, Bijapur, Koppal, Bellary, Gadag, Dharwar, Bidar, Gulbarga, Yadgir, and Vijayanagara, together with the two districts already under its jurisdiction, Shimoga and Chikmagalur.

The territory of the Eparchy of Bijnor is reorganized by including, together with the existing one district of Uttar Pradesh – Bijnor (except Dhampur division) – and six civil districts of Uttarakhand already under its jurisdiction – PauriGarhwal, Rudraprayag, TehriGarhwal, Chamoli, Uttarkashi, and a portion of Haridwar – the following 14 civil districts of Uttar Pradesh: Bijnor (in full), Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Pilibhit, Meerut, Hapur, Muzaffamagar, Shamli, Saharanpur, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, JyotibaPhule Nagar (Amroha), and Baghpat, together with the following eight civil districts of Uttarakhand: Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, Udham Singh Nagar, Dehradun, and Haridwar (in full).

The territory of the Eparchy of Chanda is reorganized by including, along with the three civil districts of Maharashtra already under its jurisdiction – Wardha, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli – the following seven civil districts of the same State: Nagpur, Gondia, Bhandara, Amravati, Hingoli, Washim, and Yavatmal.

The territory of the Eparchy of Gorakhpur is reorganized by including, together with the seven civil districts of Uttar Pradesh already under its jurisdiction­ Gorakhpur, Deoria, SantKabir Nagar, Basti, Kushinagar, Maharajganj, and Siddharthnagar – the following 29 civil districts of Uttar Pradesh: Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Amethi, Faizabad, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Raebareli, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur, Lucknow, Unnao, Barabanki, Gonda, Bahraich, Sitapur, Hardoi, Balrampur, Shravasti, LakhimpurKheri, Varanasi, Azamgarh, Ballia, Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, SantRavidas Nagar (Bhadohi), and Mau;

The territory of the Eparchy of Jagdalpur is reorganized by including, together with the seven civil districts already under its jurisdiction – Bastar, Kanker, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Dantewada, Kondagaon, and Sukma – the following 26 civil districts of Chhattisgarh: Raipur, Bilaspur, Mahasamund, Durg, Dhamtari, Korba, Janjgir, Kabirdham, Bemetara, Balod, Baloda Bazar, Gariyaband, Mungeli, Rajnandgaon, Surguja, Surajpur, Balrampur, Koriya, Jashpur, Raigarh, Gaurella-Pendra-Marwahi, Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur, Mohla-Manpur-Chowki, Sarangarh-Bilaigarh, Shakti, and Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai.

The territory of the Eparchy of Kalyan is reorganized by including, along with the 17 civil districts of the State of Maharashtra already under its jurisdiction – Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban, Thane, Raigad, Pune, Palghar, Nasik, Kolhapur, Sangli, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Dhule, Jalgaon, Nandurbar, and Ahmednagar – the following 9 civil districts of Maharashtra: Aurangabad, Jalna, Parbhani, Beed (Bhir), Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad, Buldhana, and Akola, together with the entire State of Goa, comprising the two civil districts of South Goa and North Goa.

The territory of the Eparchy of Rajkot is reorganized by including, together with the

12 civil districts of Gujarat already under its jurisdiction – Amreli, Bhavnagar,

Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Kutch, Morbi, GirSomnath, Botad, and DevbhoomiDwarka – the following six civil districts of Gujarat: Gandhinagar, Mehsana, Patan, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha, and Aravalli, along with the Union Territory of Diu Island.

The territory of the Eparchy of Sagar is reorganized by including, together with the five civil districts of Madhya Pradesh already under its jurisdiction-Sagar, Raisen, Vidisha, Ashoknagar, and Guna-the following 12 civil districts of Madhya Pradesh: Bhopal, Hoshangabad, Betul, Chhindwara, Seoni, Balaghat, Bhind, Datia, Gwalior, Morena, Sheopur, and Shivpuri, as well as the civil district of Lalitpur from the State of Uttar Pradesh;

The territory of the Eparchy of Satna is reorganized by including, together with the eight civil districts of Madhya Pradesh already under its jurisdiction-Chhatarpur, Rewa, Panna, Satna, Sidhi, Tikamgarh, Singrauli, and Niwari-the following 9 civil districts of Madhya Pradesh: Jabalpur, Mandla, Shahdol, Dindori, Umaria, Katni, Anuppur, Damoh, and Narsinghpur, as well as 6 civil districts of Uttar Pradesh: Jhansi, Jalaun, Banda, Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, and Mahoba.

The territory of the Eparchy of Ujjain is reorganized by including, together with the four civil districts of Madhya Pradesh already under its jurisdiction-Ujjain, Shajapur, Agar Malwa, and Rajgarh-the following 14 civil districts of Madhya Pradesh: Indore, Dewas, Dhar, Harda, Sehore, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Ratlam, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Khandwa (East Nimar), Burhanpur, Barwani, and Khargone (West Nimar).

Finally, the territory of the Eparchy of Shamshabad, after sharing certain portions with adjacent eparchies, shall comprise the entire 14 Federal States-Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh-together with 3 Union Territories: Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman, Lakshadweep, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and shall further include all territories not falling within the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Adilabad in the State of Telangana, the Eparchy of Rajkot in the State of Gujarat, and the Eparchies of Bijnor, Gorakhpur, and Faridabad in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

The decrees entered into force with immediate effect.

Fr Abraham Kavilpurayidathil, Major Archiepiscopal Chancellor