‘1 Lakh 30-Plus Men From Community Unable To Find Brides’: Syro-Malabar Church’s Archbishop Expresses Alarm

Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam of the Syro Malabar Church in Kerala has publicly expressed concern that the Christian population in Kerala has dwindled over the years, creating an "alarming situation" for the community in the state, reports The News Minute.

Over one lakh men under Syro Malabar Church itself are yet to find life partners and the Church says that several other factors have created a crisis.

A pastoral letter was issued from Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam and it was read out in all churches during the Sunday mass on 6 October and it read, "Over 1 lakh Christian grooms above the age of 30 under the Syro Malabar Church are unable to find life partners."

According to the church, apart from not being able to find a life partner, low birth rate, unemployment, agricultural crisis and even the recent floods are affecting the Christian community. The letter viewed these issues as "precarious to the existence of Christian community".

To support its claim, the letter uses certain statistics based on the registry of parishioners in all churches under the Syro Malabar Church.

The archbishop’s said in his pastoral letter, “During the period of the formation of the Kerala state, Christians were the second-largest community in the state. But now, the community is only 18.38 per cent of the state’s total population. In recent years, the birth rate in the Christian community has decreased to 14 per cent. This data shows that the Christian community is facing an alarming situation.”