Syro-Malabar Church unrepresented in papal conclave?
April 24, 2025
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CWN Editor's Note: Reporters in India have observed with concern that the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church—among the largest of the Eastern churches in communion with Rome, with over 4.5 million faithful—will not have a representative among the cardinal-electors at the papal conclave.
Cardinal George Alencherry, the retired Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, celebrated his 80th birthday on April 19, thus becoming ineligible to vote in a conclave. His successor, Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, is not a cardinal.
However, Cardinal George Koovakkad, who has been serving as prefect of the Dicastery for Inter-Religious Dialogue, is a Syro-Malabar.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church, claiming 5 million faithful, is probably still the largest of the Eastern Catholic churches. But the Syro-Malabar Church, based in India’s Kerela state, has been growing rapidly, challenging for that distinction.
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