Eparchial Assembly 2026
Melbourne, Australia
19-21 November 2026
The First Eparchial Assembly invites our community to give thanks for the faith received from St Thomas the Apostle and to discern how that faith can be lived and shared today. His confession, “My Lord and my God” (Jn 20:28), expresses the personal encounter with the Risen Christ that must animate every pastoral undertaking. Our liturgical heritage, family life, ministries, and service to society bear fruit when they lead people to this encounter.
On 14 January 2026, the Lineamenta (Preparatory Document), entitled “Rooted in the Eucharist, Strengthening the Domestic Church, Renewed for Mission,” was distributed to every parish, mission, and community of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of St Thomas the Apostle, Melbourne. It proposed five themes for reflection: liturgy, family, catechesis, youth, and the empowerment of our community within the Australian and New Zealand context.
Over the following months, parish priests, pastoral councils, family units, catechism teachers, youth ministries, and individual members of the faithful from more than 75 parishes, missions, and Mass centres studied the Lineamenta and submitted their reflections, concerns, and proposals. Their responses, consolidated in the Report of the Parish Consultations, form the foundation of this Instrumentum Laboris.
Instrumentum Laboris means “working document.” While the Lineamenta introduced the themes and initiated the consultation process, this document gathers what has been heard and provides a common basis for the Assembly’s prayer, study, and discussion. Each chapter presents the theological grounding of its theme in Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church, summarises the principal findings of the consultation, and offers two questions for discussion in the Assembly’s small groups. The pastoral proposals contained herein are offered for discernment and are not approved decisions.
Ours is a young and growing Eparchy whose members have come from many parts of India and now live across Australia and New Zealand. The consultation revealed a community that treasures its East Syriac heritage and seeks meaningful ways to live, teach, and pass it on to children growing up in these societies.
Preserving this inheritance and responding to our present context are not separate tasks but part of the same calling: fidelity to Christ, encountered in the Holy Qurbana and witnessed in daily life.
With gratitude to God for the faith, commitment, and generosity expressed throughout the consultation process, and invoking the intercession of St Thomas the Apostle, our father in faith, we place this Instrumentum Laboris before the delegates of the First Eparchial Assembly for their prayerful study and deliberation.
Secretariat
First Eparchial Assembly 2026
