With millions of adherents primarily in Kerala but with a significant diaspora worldwide, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is one of the largest Eastern Catholic Churches. It upholds its ancient traditions and Western liturgical heritage while contributing to the global Catholic community. That rich tradition has reached the Diocese of Austin, where a small group is building a Syro-Malankara Catholic community at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Pflugerville with the help of Father Saji Lukose.

Father Lukose arrived in Austin from India two years ago. He first felt a call to the priesthood while in primary school. “I’ve had this feeling inside me that this is what God desires me to do,” Father Lukose said. “I feel that God’s call came to me through the people in my life, especially my parents. Faith was a big part of our family life, as was attending church and Catholic schools and being involved in parish life and school activities.”

After his studies, he became a teacher and was assigned to help a group of Salesian priests who came to his school to recruit young men to the priesthood. One of them told him, “You can come and join us. You can be both a teacher and preacher.” These words instilled in him the confidence that “God was calling me to the holy vocation of the priesthood.”

After 15 years of formation, he was ordained in 2015. “I believe that God had called me and is always with me and that the priesthood is right for me,” Father Lukose said. After ordination, he served as seminary rector, leader of the diocesan youth program and parish priest. He then studied Canon Law in Rome.

Upon completion, his bishop asked him to go to Austin to serve at St. Louis Parish, where he met a small group of seven families growing a church, St. Ephrem Catholic Mission, in the tradition of their ancestors. Father Lukose now serves as associate pastor of St. Elizabeth, and his duties include serving the Syro-Malankara Catholic faithful, who gather for Mass every third Sunday of the month at 3:30 p.m. in the St. Elizabeth Chapel.

“Our mission parish is made up of Catholics spread across the Austin area,” Father Lukose said. “On Sundays, when we don’t have our Qurbono (Mass), our parishioners attend Mass at different parishes, including the Syro-Malabar church (St. Alphonsa) and Latin parishes in Austin and Round Rock.”

Usually, the priest and congregation celebrate Qurbono in the group’s native language, Syriac (a dialect of Aramaic) and Malayalam.

“We would love to grow into a full parish, in communion with the Diocese of Austin as part of the St. Mary’s Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy, as God wills,” Father Lukose said.

In September 2022, the group celebrated the first-ever Catholic Syro-Malankara Mass in the Diocese of Austin at St. Alphonsa Catholic Church in Manor. On Jan. 15, 2023, St. Ephrem Syro-Malankara Catholic Mission of Austin was established. Shortly after the arrival of Father Lukose in Austin, their monthly Mass moved from St. Theresa to St. Louis, and most recently to St. Elizabeth.

Syro-Malankara doctrine accentuates the spiritual aspects of the faith. In the Syro-Malankara practice, baptism and chrismation (confirmation) often occur together, even for infants. Roman Catholics treat baptism and confirmation as separate sacraments, and confirmation often occurs at an older age.

Despite these variances, both rites share the same core Catholic faith, including beliefs in the sacraments, the authority of the pope and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Father Lukose invites all from the Syro-Malankara faith who live in the Austin area to join the St. Ephrem Mission in Pflugerville. Find the community on Facebook by searching “austinmalankaracatholic.”