THC Science

Syro-Malabar Church
Syro-Malabar Church
Syriac: ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ; Latin: Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium; Malayalam: മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
	The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sliva or Saint Thomas christian cross, the symbol of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Abbreviation	SMC
Type	Self-governing church (sui iuris)
Classification	Eastern Catholic
Orientation	Eastern Christianity; (Syriac Christianity)
Scripture	Holy Bible Peshitta (Syriac); Malayalam POC Bible (Malayalam); Douay–Rheims Bible (English); ;
Theology	East Syriac theology
Polity	Episcopal polity
Governance	Holy Episcopal Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	George Alencherry
Administration	Major Archiepiscopal Curia
Parishes	3,224
Region	India and Nasrani Malayali diaspora
Language	Liturgical Syriac, Malayalam, Syro-Malabarica, English, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and most other Indian languages
Liturgy	East Syriac Rite - Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari
Headquarters	Mount Saint Thomas,; Kakkanad, Kochi, India
Territory	India,; with diaspora in USA, Australia and Oceania, Europe, UK, Canada, and Nations of the Persian Gulf
Founder	Saint Thomas the Apostle by tradition
Origin	c. 50 AD (Saint Thomas Christianity, by tradition), ; 16th century (as Catholic Church) ; Malabar Coast, South India
Separated from	Church of the East
Branched from	Saint Thomas Christians
Separations	Puthenkoor; Chaldean Syrian Church (1870s)
Members	4.25 million worldwide, per 2016 Annuario Pontificio; 2.35 million in Kerala, per 2011 Kerala state census
Clergy	Bishops: 64; Priests: 9,121;
Other name(s)	Syrian Catholic (SC), ; Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha; Pazhayakoor (colloquial name for members)
Official website	syromalabarchurch.in
Official News Portal	syromalabarvision.com

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church^[15] (Syriac: ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܩܵܬܘܿܠܝܼܩܝܼ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ) is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. The Syro-Malabar Church is an autonomous (sui iuris) particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, including the Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Church is headed by the Metropolitan and Gate of all India Major Archbishop Mar George Cardinal Alencherry. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi.^[16] Syro-Malabar is a prefix coined from the words Syriac as the church employs the East Syriac Rite liturgy, and Malabar which is the historical name for modern Kerala. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.^[17]

The Syro-Malabar Church is primarily based in India; with 5 metropolitan archeparchies and 10 suffragan eparchies in Kerala, there are 17 eparchies in other parts of India, and 4 eparchies outside India. It is the largest of the Saint Thomas Christians communities with a population of 2.35 million in Kerala as per the 2011 Kerala state census^[12]^[13] and 4.25 million worldwide as estimated in the 2016 Annuario Pontificio.^[11] It is the third largest sui juris church in the Catholic Church communion and the second largest Eastern Catholic Church after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.^[18]

The Church traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.^[19]^[20]^[21]^[22] The earliest recorded organised Christian presence in India dates to the 4th century, when Persian missionaries of the East Syriac Rite tradition, members of what later became the Church of the East, established themselves in modern-day Kerala and Sri Lanka.^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26] The Church of the East shared communion with the Great Church (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy) until the Council of Ephesus in the 5th century, separating primarily over differences in Christology and due to political reasons. The Syro-Malabar Church employs an Indianised variant of the East Syriac Rite, which dates back to 3rd century Edessa, Upper Mesopotamia.^[27] As such it is a part of Syriac Christianity by liturgy and heritage.^[28]

After the schism of 1552, a faction of the Church of the East came in communion with the Holy See of Rome (modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church) and the Church of the East collapsed due to internal struggles. Throughout the later half of the 16th century, the Malabar Church was under Chaldean Catholic jurisdiction. Through the Synod of Diamper of 1599, the Malabar Church was subjected directly under the authority of the Latin Catholic Padroado Archbishopric of Goa and the Jesuits. After a half-century administration under the Goa Archdiocese, dissidents held the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653 as a protest. In response, Pope Alexander VII, with the help of Carmelite missionaries, by 1662, was able to reunite the majority of the dissidents with the Catholic Church. The Syro-Malabar Church descends from those Saint Thomas Christians who first aligned with the Catholic Church in the mid-sixteenth century under the Chaldean Catholic bishops^[7] and those who reunited with the Catholic Church under the leadership of Mar Palliveettil Chandy during the period 1655-1663.^[29]^[30] During the 17th and 18th centuries the Archdiocese of Cranganore was under the Syro-Malabarians, but it was later suppressed and integrated into the modern day Latin Archdiocese of Verapoly. Until the late nineteenth century, the Syro-Malabar Church was deprived of self jurisdiction and was under the administration of local Latin Catholic hierarchy which resulted in the excessive liturgical and ecclesiastical Romanization of the church.^[31]

After over two centuries under the Latin Church's hegemony, in 1887, Pope Leo XIII fully separated the Syro-Malabarians from the Latin Church (the Archdiocese of Verapoly remained as the jurisdiction for Latin Catholics). Leo XIII established two Apostolic Vicariates for Syro-Malabarians, Thrissur and Changanassery (originally named Kottayam), and in 1896, the Vicariate of Ernakulam was erected as well, under the guidance of indigenous Syro-Malabar bishops. In 1923, the Syro-Malabar hierarchy was organized and unified with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See and Mar Augustine Kandathil as the first head and Archbishop of the Church.^[32] The Syro-Malabar Church in effect became an autonomous sui iuris Eastern church within the Catholic communion.^[33] Catholicism within the Syro-Malabar Church is unique in that it has inculturated with traditional Hindu customs through its Thomas Christian heritage. Scholar and theologian Placid Podipara describes the Saint Thomas Christian community as "Hindu in Culture, Christian in Religion, and Oriental in Worship."^[34] The Church is predominantly of the Malayali ethnic group who speak Malayalam, although there are a minority of Tamils, Telugus, and North Indians from the various eparchies outside Kerala. Following emigration of its members, eparchies have opened in other parts of India and in other countries to serve the diaspora living in the Western world. There are four eparchies outside of India, concentrated in English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, UK, and US. Saint Alphonsa is the Church's first canonized saint, followed by Saint Kuriakose Chavara, Saint Euphrasia, and Saint Mariam Thresia. It is one of the two Eastern Catholic churches in India, the other one being the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church which represents the faction of the Puthenkoor that returned to full communion with the Holy See of Rome in 1930.^[35]

History

Pre-Coonan Cross Oath

It is believed that the Saint Thomas Christians in Malabar came into contact with the Persian Church of the East in the middle of the 4th century. Saint Thomas Christians looked to Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East for ecclesiastical authority.^[36] Although the bishops from the Middle East were the spiritual rulers of the Church, the general administration of the Church of Kerala was governed by the indigenous Archdeacon.^[37] The Archdeacon was the head of Saint Thomas Christians.^[38] Even when there were more than one foreign bishop, there was only one Archdeacon for the entire community.^[38]

The Church of the East Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb's unpopularity led to the schism of 1552, due to the patriarchal succession being hereditary, normally from uncle to nephew. Opponents appointed the monk Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa as a rival patriarch. Sulaqa's subsequent consecration by Pope Julius III (1550–55) saw a permanent split in the Church of the East; and the reunion with Rome resulted in the formation of the modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church of Iraq.^[39]^[40] Thus, parallel to the "traditionalist" (often referred as Nestorian) Patriarchate of the East, the "Chaldean" Patriarchate in communion with Rome came into existence. Following the schism, both traditionalist and Chaldean factions began sending their bishops to Malabar. Abraham of Angamaly was one among them. He first came to India in 1556 from the traditionalist patriarchate. Deposed from his position in 1558, he was taken to Lisbon by the Portuguese, escaped at Mozambique and left for his mother church in Mesopotamia, entered into communion with the Chaldean patriarchate and Rome in 1565, received his episcopal ordination again from the Latin patriarch of Venice as arranged by the Pope Pius IV (1559–65) in Rome. Subsequently, Abraham was appointed by Pope as Archbishop of Angamaly, with letters to the Archbishop of Goa and the Bishop of Cochin.^[41]

In 1597, Abraham of Angamaly died. Unfortunately, the Portuguese padroado Archbishop of Goa, Aleixo de Menezes, downgraded the Angamaly Archdiocese into a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Goa and appointed the Jesuit Francisco Ros S.J. as Bishop of Angamaly. Menezes held the Synod of Diamper in 1599 to bring the Thomas Christians under the complete authority of the Latin Church.^[29]

Coonan Cross Oath

The oppressive rule of the Portuguese padroado eventually led to a revolt in 1653, known as the Coonan Cross Oath.^[42] The Thomas Christians including their native priests assembled in the church of Our Lady at Mattancherry near Cochin, formally stood before a crucifix and lighted candles and solemnly swore an oath upon the Gospel that they never again accept another European prelate.^[43]^[44] The exact wording used in Coonan Cross Oath is disputed. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of Church of Rome.^[45] However, the 'Coonan Cross' revolution obviously was the final outbreak of the storm that had been gathering on the horizon of the ecclesial life of the St. Thomas Christians for over a century.

Post-Coonan Cross Oath

After the Coonan Cross Oath, the leaders of St. Thomas Christians assembled at Edappally, where four senior priests Anjilimoottil Itty Thommen Kathanar of Kallisseri, Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar of Kuravilangad, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar of Kaduthuruthy and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar of Angamaly were appointed as advisors of the Archdeacon and on 22 May 1653 Archdeacon Thoma was proclaimed as bishop by the laying on of hands of twelve priests.^[46] After the consecration of Thoma I, The information about this consecration was then communicated to all the churches. The vast majority of churches accepted Thoma I as their bishop.^[47] At this point of time, Portuguese authorities requested direct intervention of Rome and hence Pope sent Carmelite Missionaries in two groups from the Propagation of the Faith to Malabar headed by Fr. Sebastiani and Fr. Hyacinth. Fr. Sebastiani arrived first in 1655 and began to speak directly with the Thoma I. Fr. Sebastiani, with the help of Portuguese, gained the support of many, especially with the support of Palliveettil Chandy, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar. These were the three of the four counselors of Thoma I, who had defected with Francisco Garcia Mendes, Archbishop of Cranganore, before the arrival of Sebastaini, according to Jesuit reports.^[44]

The Carmelite missionaries succeeded in convincing a group of St.Thomas Christians that the consecration of Archdeacon as bishop was not legitimate and Thoma I started losing his followers. In the meantime, Sebastiani returned to Rome and was ordained as bishop by Pope on 15 December 1659. Between 1661 and 1662, out of the 116 churches, the Carmelites claimed eighty-four churches, leaving the native archdeacon Thoma I with thirty-two churches. The eighty-four churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has descended. The other thirty-two churches and their congregations represented the nucleus from which the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church), the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Malabar Independent Syrian Church, the Marthoma Syrian Church, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church have originated.^[48] However in 1663, with the conquest of Cochin by the Dutch, the control of the Portuguese on the Malabar coast was lost. The Dutch declared that all the Portuguese missionaries had to leave Kerala. Before leaving Kerala, on 1 February 1663 Sebastiani consecrated Palliveettil Chandy as the Metran of the Thomas Christians who adhered to the Church of Rome.

Thoma I, meanwhile sent requests to various Oriental Churches to receive canonical consecration as bishop. In 1665 Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, a bishop sent by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, arrived in India. The independent group under the leadership of Thoma I which resisted the authority of the Portuguese padroado welcomed him.^[49] Abdal Jaleel consecrated Thoma I canonically as a bishop and regularised his episcopal succession. This led to the first lasting formal schism in the Saint Thomas Christian community. Thereafter, the faction affiliated with the Catholic Church under Bishop Palliveettil Chandy came to be known as Pazhayakuttukar (or "Old Allegiance"), and the branch affiliated with Thoma I came to be known as Puthenkūttukār (or "New Allegiance"). They were also known as Jacobite Syrians^[50] and they organized themselves as independent Malankara Church.^[51] The visits of prelates from the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch continued since then and this led to gradual replacement of the East Syriac Rite liturgy with the West Syriac Rite and the Puthenkūttukār affiliated to the Miaphysite Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Communion.

The Pazhayakuttukar faction continued with the Catholic Communion and preserved the traditional East Syriac (Persian) liturgy and Dyophysite Christology. They were also known as Romo-Syrians^[50] or Syrian Catholics. They also used the title Malankara Church initially.^[a] Following the death of Palliveettil Chandy in 1687, the Syrian Catholics of the Malabar coast came under the parallel double jurisdiction of Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar under Roman Catholic Carmelites and Archdiocese of Cranganore under the Padroado. Thus many priests and laymen attempted to persuade the Pope to restore their Chaldean Catholic rite and hierarchy of the local church, and for the appointment of bishops from local priests. To represent their position, Kerala's Syrian Catholics Joseph Kariattil and Paremmakkal Thomma Kathanar went to Rome in 1778. While they were in Europe, Kariatty Joseph Kathanar was installed in Portugal as the Archbishop of Kodungalloor Archdiocese.^[53] While journeying home, they stayed in Goa where Kariattil died before he could formally take charge. Before he died, Kariattil appointed Kathanar as the Administrator of Kodungalloor Archdiocese after him. The new administrator ran the affairs of the church, establishing his headquarters at Angamaly. In 1790, the headquarters of the Archdiocese was shifted to Vadayar, dodging the invasion of Tippu Sultan. In the last four years of his life, Thomma Kathanar managed church administration from his own parish, Ramapuram.^[53]

Angamaly Padiyola, a declaration of the Pazhayakūr gives the history of Saint Thomas Christians up to 1787:^[54]

"Our forefathers received the true faith of Īshoʿ Mîshîħa [Jesus Christ] at the hands of Mār Thōma Shlīħa [the Apostle Saint Thomas]. Upon this, Chaldean Syrian bishops ruled over us up to the time of the death of the Metropolitan Mar Abraham, which took place in the East Church of Angamāly in the year 1596. Then the Sanpaloor padre [Jesuits priests] stopped the arrival of other Syrians, and oppressed our people, and ruled over them with an iron rule. However, another Syrian Metran [bishop, referring to Ahattalla] arrived at Cochin with the view of coming to us; but soon the news reached us that he had come to an untimely death by being drowned in the sea. Upon this our forefathers assembled at Mattancherry, and took an oath that neither they themselves, nor their descendants, should ever have anything to do with the Sanpaloor padre. They subsequently assembled at Allangād church, where they duly nominated Archdeacon Thoma as their bishop. Not long after, the Carmelites, who were then established at Goa, were brought into the country, and they asserted that the bishop who was elected by this assembly could not bless the anointing oil. They proposed, however, that some one should sent to Rome to be consecrated there, and he might, on his return, complete the consecration of Mar Thoma. This proposal, which was sent through Padre Joseph [Joseph Maria Sebastiani], was agreed to; and upon this Joseph himself went to Rome and received consecration. On his return to Malabar he refused to acknowledge the ordination and the blessings of the anointing oil per formed by the bishop Mar Thoma, and consecrated Chandy Kathanar as bishop over us. Towards the end of Chandy's life the Carmelites formed a plan to extinguish the rank and honour of our Church altogether; they consecrated a half-caste Portuguese, Raphael by name, over the Malabar Churches. Our people, however, insisted that they would not submit to a half-caste bishop. About this time Mar Shemon [Shemon of Ada], a Syrian, was on his way to be our bishop. But the Sanpaloor padre detained him at Tānūr. Some Carmelite priests went thither and took charge of him, promising to banish him from the country. They took him first to the church of Allangād, and after they had brought about the consecration of Padre Angelus [Angelus Francis] they put Mar Shemon on board a ship and took him to Pondicherry, where he was imprisoned, and died a most miserable death. Thus have these two religious orders oppressed our forefathers in various ways. The bishop, Mar Thoma, offered on different occasions not only to give in his submission to the Holy Church, but also to cause others to submit, but up to this time his offer has not been accepted.... As nothing but strife and grievance must continue to arise if we have our bishops from a race which oppresses us, we have sent information to Rome and Portugal, to the effect that our Church should have bishops from among its own body, just as other countries and nations have from among themselves; and that our mind is made up that in future we will have no bishop but from among ourselves.... Should this application to the faithful Queen of Portugal meet with a refusal, we will transfer our allegiance to the Chaldean Patriarch, Mar Joseph (who himself is subject to the Holy Church), as our forefathers rendered their allegiance before the Portuguese had power over us; and we will procure bishops thence who will consecrate our honourable Governors......"

Angamāly Padiyōla

Some of the churches that did not sign the Angamaly Padiyola (1787) later became Latin churches, e.g. Mathilakom (Pappinivattom), Maliankara, Thuruthipuram, etc. One branch of the Syro Malabar Church later left to form the Chaldean Syrian Church aligned with the Assyrian Church of the East when an Eastern Syriac rite bishop, Mar Elias Mellus, came to evangelize them in 1874. Marth Mariam Valiyapalli, in Thrissur, was the headquarters of Mar Elias Mellus.

After earlier being under the Babylonian Church of the East (with the Catholic faction known as Chaldean Catholic Church from 1681), and under Latin Catholic bishops from 1599, Catholics of Saint Thomas Christians obtained their own bishops from 1896. They were known as Catholic Chaldean Syrians during the period from around 1787 (Angamaly Padiyola) to around 1911. They were known as the Catholic Syrians or Syro-Malabar Catholic to differentiate them from the Jacobite Syrians and Latin Church.

Latin Catholic Carmelite clergy from Europe served as bishops, and the Church along with the Latin Catholics was under the Apostolic Vicariate of Malabar (modern-day Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly). In 1887, the Holy See established two Apostolic Vicariates, Thrissur and Kottayam (later Changanassery) under the guidance of indigenous Syro-Malabar bishops, and named the Church as "The Syro-Malabar Church" to distinguish them from the Latins.^[33] The Holy See re-organized the Apostolic Vicariates in 1896 into three Apostolic Vicariates (Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Changanassery). A fourth Apostolic Vicariate (Kottayam) was established in 1911 for Knanaya Catholics.

Restoration of the Syro-Malabar hierarchy

In 1923, Pope Pius XI (1922–39) set up a full-fledged Syro-Malabar hierarchy with Ernakulam-Angamaly as the Metropolitan See and Augustine Kandathil as the first Head and Archbishop of the Church. In 1992, Pope John Paul II (1978–05) raised the Syro-Malabar Church to Major Archepiscopal rank and appointed Cardinal Antony Padiyara of Ernakulam as the first Major Archbishop.^[55] The Syro-Malabar Church shares the same liturgy with the Chaldean Catholic Church based in Iraq and the independent Assyrian Church of the East based in Iraq (including its archdiocese the Chaldean Syrian Church of India). The Syro-Malabar Church is the third-largest particular church (sui juris) in the Catholic Church (after the Latin Church and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church).^[56]

The Catholic Saint Thomas Christians (Pazhayakūttukār) came to be known as the Syro Malabar Catholics from 1932 onwards to differentiate them from the Syro-Malankara Catholics in Kerala. The Indian East Syriac Catholic hierarchy was restored on 21 December 1923 with Augustine Kandathil as the first Metropolitan and Head of the Church with the name Syro-Malabar.^[57]

Faith and communion of Syro-Malabarians

The St. Thomas Christians got their bishops from the Church of the East/Chaldean Church until the end of the sixteenth century, when it was stopped by the Portuguese Roman Rite Catholics in 1597, after the death of Metropolitan Archbishop Abraham of Angamaly.

Liturgy

As per the East Syriac tradition, liturgical day of the Syro-Malabar Church starts at sunset (6 pm). Also the worshiper has to face the East while worshiping. This is not followed after Latinization.^[58]

According to the East Syriac (Edessan or Persian) tradition, the following are the seven times of prayer:

Ramsha (ܪܲܡܫܵܐ‎) or the Evening Liturgy (6 pm)
Suba-a (ܣܘܼܒܵܥܵܐ‎) or the Supper Liturgy (9 pm)
Lelya (ܠܸܠܝܵܐ‎) or the Night Liturgy (12 am)
Qala d-Shahra ( ܩܵܠܵܐ ܕܫܲܗܪܵ‎ ) or the Vigil Liturgy (3 am)
Sapra (ܨܲܦܪܵܐ‎) or the Morning Liturgy (6 am)
Quta'a (ܩܘܼܛܵܥܵܐ‎) or the Third Hour Liturgy (9 am)
Endana (ܥܸܕܵܢܵܐ‎) or the Noon Liturgy (12 pm)

The Holy Mass, which is called Holy Qurbana in East Syriac Aramaic and means "Eucharist", is celebrated in its solemn form on Sundays and special occasions. During the celebration of the Qurbana, priests and deacons put on elaborate vestments which are unique to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

Restoration of East Syriac liturgy

East Syriac liturgy has three anaphorae: those of the Holy Apostles (Saints Mar Addai and Mar Mari), Mar Theodore Mpašqana, and Mar Nestorius. The first is the most popularly and extensively used. The second is used (except when the third is ordered) from Advent to Palm Sunday. The third was traditionally used on the Epiphany and the feasts of St. John the Baptist and of the Greek Doctors, both of which occur in Epiphany-tide on the Wednesday of the Rogation of the Ninevites, and on Maundy Thursday. The same pro-anaphoral part (Liturgy of the Word) serves for all three.

In the second half of the 20th century, there was a movement for better understanding of the liturgical rites. A restored Eucharistic liturgy, drawing on the original East Syriac sources, was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1957, and for the first time on the feast of St. Thomas on 3 July 1962 the vernacular, Malayalam, was introduced for the celebration of the Syro-Malabar Qurbana.^[59] Currently they celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Addai and Mari and the Anaphora of Theodre in mostly Malayalam, with Syriac and English influences.

Besides the Anaphora of Mar Addai and Mar Mari being used currently in Syro-Malabar liturgy, there are two more anaphorae known as Anaphora of Theodore and Anaphora of Nestorius. That the Anaphora of Theodore which was withdrawn from use after the Synod of Diamper (a large number of churches used it up to 1896) is being used again in the Syro-Malabar Church after 415 years is indeed an important historical reality. In a way the Syro-Malabar church rejected the Synod of Diamper. Pope Pius XII during the process of restoration of the Syro-Malabar Qurbana in 1957 had requested the restoration of the Anaphorae of Theodore and Nestorius. The draft of the Anaphora of Theodore was restored after meticulous study by the Central Liturgical Committee, Liturgical Research Centre, various sub-committees, and the eparchial liturgical commissions. Many changes befitting to the times have been made in the prayers, maintaining maximum fidelity to the original text of the Second Anaphora. It was this text so prepared that was sent to Rome for the recognition of the Apostolic See in accordance with the decision of the Syro-Malabar Synod. The Congregation for the Eastern Churches gave its approval for using this anaphora on an experimental basis for three years on 15 December 2012.^[60]

Rite of Renewal of Holy Leaven (Malka) by Mar Joseph Kallarangatt

After almost 420 years, the Anaphora of Nestorius is restored in the Syro-Malabar Church.^[61] The aftermath of the so-called Synod of Diamper was that any texts related to Nestorius were systematically burnt by the Jesuits, who represented and ruled the Latin Church of India in 1599. In a way, the SyroMalabar church rejected the Synod of Diamber (Udayamperoor) by restoring the Anaphora of Theodore and Anaphora of Nestorius.

Liturgical latinisation was furthered in 1896 by Ladislaus Zaleski, the Apostolic Delegate to India, who requested permission to translate the Roman Pontifical into Syriac. This was the choice of some Malabar prelates, who chose it over the East Syriac Rite and West Syriac Rite pontificals. A large number of Syro-Malabarians had schismed and joined with Assyrians at that time and various delayed the approval of this translation, until in 1934 Pope Pius XI stated that latinization was to no longer be encouraged.^[62] He initiated a process of liturgical reform that sought to restore the oriental nature of the latinized Syro-Malabar rite.^[63] A restored Eucharistic liturgy, drawing on the original East Syriac sources, was approved by Pius XII in 1957 and introduced in 1962.

The church uses one of several Bible translations into Malayalam.

Liturgical calendar

The Syro-Malabar Church has its own liturgical year, structured around eight liturgical seasons:

Suvara (Annunciation)
Denha (Epiphany)
Sawma Rabba (Great Lent)
Qyamta (Resurrection of the Lord)
Slīhe (Season of Apostles)
Qaita (Summer)
Elijah-Cross-Moses (Elijah-Sliba-Muse)
Dedication of the Church (Qudas-Edta)

Syro-Malabar hierarchy

List of ecclesiastical Heads

East Syrian Ecclesiastical Heads of Saint Thomas Christians before Coonan Cross Oath

Mar Keppa (AD 72)^{[citation needed]}
Mar Yohannan (AD 110) ^{[citation needed]}
Mar Yacova (AD 200) ^{[citation needed]}
Mar Thoma II (AD 240) ^{[citation needed]}
Mar Daveed d'Basara (AD 295)^{[citation needed]}
Mar Yohannan II (AD 310)
Mar Avaraham (AD 430)
Mar Shem'on (AD 520)
Mar Yacov ll (AD 610)
Mar Sabor (AD 823)
Mar Yohannan III (AD 880)
Mar YahbAlaha (AD 900)
Mar Shem'on II (AD 930)
Mar Yohannan IV (AD 980)
Mar Avaraham II (AD 1050)
Mar Thoma III (AD 1056)
Mar Yohannan V (AD 1100)
Mar Yohannan VI (AD 1222)
Mar Yowseph (AD 1231)
Mar Daveed II (AD 1285)
Mar Yacov III (AD 1301)
Mar Avaraham III (AD 1320)
Mar YahbAlaha II (AD 1407)
Mar Yohannan VII (AD 1490)
Mar Yacov IV (AD 1503)
Mar Joseph Sulaqa (AD 1554)
Mar Abraham of Angamaly (AD 1565)

Indian Ecclesiastical Heads of Syrian Catholics (Syro-Malabar Church) after Coonan Cross Oath

Palliveettil Mar Chandy (AD 1663)
Kariattil Mar Iousep (AD 1783)
Mar Augustine Kandathil (AD 1923)
Mar Antony Padiyara (1992–1997)
Mar Varkey Vithayathil (1997–2011)
Mar George Alencherry (2011–present)^[64]

Syro-Malabar major archiepiscopal curia

The curia of the Syro-Malabar Church began to function in March 1993 at the archbishop's house of Ernakulam-Angamaly. Later, on 27 May 1995, it was shifted to new premises at Mount St. Thomas near Kakkanad, Kochi. The newly constructed curial building was opened on 3 July 1998.

The administration of the Syro-Malabar Church has executive and judicial roles. The major archbishop, officials, various commissions, committees, and the permanent synod form the executive part. The permanent synod and other offices are formed in accordance with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The officials include the chancellor, vice-chancellor, and other officers. Various commissions are appointed by the major archbishop: Liturgy, Pastoral Care of the Migrant and Evangelisation, Particular Law, Catechism, Ecumenism, Catholic Doctrine, Clergy and Institutes of Consecrated Life, and Societies of Apostolic Life. The members of the commissions are ordinarily bishops, but include priests. For judicial activities there is the major archiepiscopal ordinary tribunal formed in accordance with CCEO which has a statutes and sufficient personnel, with a president as its head. At present, Rev. Dr. Jose Chiramel is the president. The Major archiepiscopal curia functions in the curial building in Kerala, India. They have prepared the particular law for their Church and promulgated it part by part in Synodal News, the official Bulletin of this Church. There are statutes for the permanent synod and for the superior and ordinary tribunals. CCEO c. 122 § 2 is specific in the particular law, that the term of the office shall be five years and the same person shall not be appointed for more than two terms consecutively.^[65]

Provinces, (Arch)Eparchies and other jurisdictions

There are 35 eparchies (dioceses). Five of them are Archeparchies (of major archbishop) at present, all in southern India: Ernakulam-Angamaly, Changanacherry, Trichur, Tellicherry, and Kottayam.

These have another 13 suffragan eparchies: Bhadravathi, Belthangady, Irinjalakuda, Kanjirapally, Kothamangalam, Idukki, Mananthavady, Mandya, Palai, Palghat, Ramanathapuram, Thamarassery, and Thuckalay within the canonical territory of the Major Archiepiscopal Church.

There are 13 further eparchies outside the canonical territory of which Adilabad, Bijnor, Chanda, Gorakhpur, Jagdalpur, Kalyan, Rajkot, Sagar, Satna, Faridabad, Hosur, Shamsabad, and Ujjain in India are with exclusive jurisdiction. The St. Thomas Eparchy of Chicago in the United States, St. Thomas the Apostle Eparchy of Melbourne in Australia, Eparchy of Great Britain, and Eparchy of Mississauga, Canada enjoy personal jurisdiction.^[66]

Proper Ecclesiastical provinces

Most believers of this church are organized under five metropolitan archeparchies (archdioceses), all in Kerala, and their suffragan eparchies.

Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly
- - Eparchy of Idukki
  - Eparchy of Kothamangalam
- Metropolitan Archeparchy of Changanassery
- Metropolitan Archeparchy of Kottayam (Exclusively for the Knanaya Catholic faithful)
- Metropolitan Archeparchy of Tellicherry
- Metropolitan Archeparchy of Thrissur

Eparchies beyond Kerala with exclusive jurisdictions

Exempt jurisdictions

Eparchy of Kalyan, serves Mumbai and western Maharashtra
Eparchy of Faridabad, near Delhi, also serves Haryana, (Indian) Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and parts of Uttar Pradesh
Eparchy of Hosur, in Tamil Nadu, established October 2017^[67]
Eparchy of Shamshabad, includes the entire country of India not included in existing eparchies, established October 2017^[67]

Outside India

Eparchy of Mississauga, for Canada
Eparchy of Melbourne, for Australia and New Zealand
Eparchy of Chicago, for the USA
Eparchy of Great Britain in Preston, England for England, Wales & Scotland

Syro-Malabar Religious Congregations

The Religious Congregations are divided in the Eastern Catholic Church Law (Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches – CCEO) as Monasteries, Hermitages, Orders, Congregations, Societies of Common Life in the Manner of Religious, Secular Institutes, and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Active are:

Carmelites of Mary Immaculate
Congregation of the Mother of Carmel
Little Flower Congregation
Franciscan Clarist Congregation
Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
Missionary Society of Saint Thomas the Apostle
Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Adoration Congregation)
Sisters of the Destitute (S.D.)
Vincentian Congregation
Nazareth Sisters

Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal churches

St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Archdeacon Church Kuravilangad, Eparchy of Palai
St. Mary's Knanaya Forane Church, Kaduthuruthy (Valiya palli), Kottayam Archdiocese
Holy Cross Forane Church Nadavayal, Eparchy of Manathavady
St. Mary's Forane Church Kudamaloor, Archeparchy of Changanassery
St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Church Palayoor, Archeparchy of Thrissur
St. Sebastian Church Thazhekad, Eparchy of Irinjalakuda
St. Mary's Church (Akkarappally) Kanjirappally, Eparchy of Kanjirappally

Statistics

The number of Syro Malabar Church institutions and personnel^[68]
Institutions	#
Parishes	3,224
Quasi-parishes	539
Missions	490
Institutes of consecrated life – men & women	53
Major & minor seminary	71
Regular, technical & other colleges	691
Teachers' training institutes	24
Engineering colleges Higher Secondary & Primary Schools	29 2,981
Kindergartens	1,685
Non-formal & adult education	503
Special schools	4,021
Health care institutions	700
Nurse's training schools	44
Hospitals, dispensaries & health centers Medical colleges	670 5
Specialized health care centers, incurables & leprosy care centers	54
Old age homes	211
Children's homes	185
Orphanages	230
Rehabilitation centers and other institutions	1,616
Total	13,805
Personnel
Religious sisters	35,000
Religious brothers	6,836
Seminarians	2,907
Diocesan and religious priests	9,121
Bishops	56
Major archbishop	1
Total	51,097

According to the 2016 Annuario Pontificio pontifical yearbook, there were about 4,189,349 members in the Syro-Malabar Church.^[66]

Within the proper territory

There are sixteen eparchies in the proper territory of the Syro-Malabar Church.

Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly has 510,000 members with 347 parishes, 731 religious/secular priests, 632 male religious and 4935 female religious. Archeparchy of Trichur has 471,328 members with 195 parishes, 418 religious/secular priests, 358 male religious and 3315 female religious. Eparchy of Idukki has 270,000 members with 129 parishes, 119 religious/secular priests, 109 male religious and 1320 female religious.

Archeparchy of Changanacherry has 390,000 members with 266 parishes, 615 religious/secular priests, 534 male religious and 2705 female religious. Eparchy of Palai has 348,128 members with 169 parishes, 502 religious/secular priests, 127 male religious and 3312 female religious. Archeparchy of Tellicherry has 317,782 members with 222 parishes, 293 religious/secular priests, 263 male religious and 1664 female religious. Eparchy of Irinjalakuda has 258,200 members with 128 parishes, 233 religious/secular priests, 132 male religious and 2350 female religious.

Eparchy of Kothamangalam has 217,420 members with 115 parishes, 242 religious/secular priests, 163 male religious and 2210 female religious. Eparchy of Kanjirapally has 192,000 members with 136 parishes, 314 religious/secular priests, 210 male religious and 1840 female religious. Archeparchy of Kottayam has 175,300 members with 149 parishes, 161 religious/secular priests, 107 male religious and 1233 female religious. Eparchy of Mananthavady has 170,100 members with 140 parishes, 413 religious/secular priests, 358 male religious and 1546 female religious. Eparchy of Thamarasserry has 129,600 members with 128 parishes, 247 religious/secular priests, 257 male religious and 1321 female religious. Eparchy of Palghat has 68,004 members with 106 parishes, 167 religious/secular priests, 82 male religious and 1360 female religious.^[66]

According to a study, in Kerala about 30 percent of the Syro Malabar Church members lived in the erstwhile Cochin State. The remaining 70 percent lived in Travancore state.^{[citation needed]} In the Travancore state, Meenachil Taluk had the largest proportion, followed by Changanaserry Taluk.

Erstwhile Cochin State, Meenachil (Palai) and Changanaserry together had 56 percent of the total Syro Malabar population. Kottayam, Pala, Muvattupuzha, Kanjirappally, Thodupuzha, Kothamangalam, Cherthala, Mukundapuram (irinjalakkuda-chalakkudy), Wadakkancherry, Thrissur, North Parur, Alwaye, Kunnathunadu, Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad, Peerumedu, Nedumkandam and Devikulam etc. are the prominent taluks.^[66]

Outside the proper territory

There are eleven eparchies outside the proper territory of the Syro Malabar Church.

The Eparchy of Kalyan has 100,000 members with 106 parishes, 146 religious/secular priests, 105 male religious and 270 female religious. St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago, USA, has 85,000 members with 11 parishes, 45 religious/secular priests, 13 male religious and 16 female religious. The Eparchy of Canada has 14,079 members with 5 parishes, 51 religious/secular priests, 182 male religious and 352 female religious. The Eparchy of Adilabad has 13,273 members with 25 parishes, 50 religious/secular priests, 41 male religious and 143 female religious. The Eparchy of Rajkot has 12,850 members with 12 parishes, 140 religious/secular priests, 142 male religious and 421 female religious. There is a significant diaspora of Syro-Malabar Catholics in countries not under the jurisdiction of any of the existing eparchies.^[69]

List of prominent Syro-Malabar Catholics

Prominent Syro-Malabar leaders

Kadavil Chandy - a syriacist, poet and church leader.
Kudakkachira Mar Anthony Kathanar – Martyr of Nazranis of Hendo for Unity
Joseph Kariattil - the first known Indian native Metropolitan Archbishop
Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar - Administrator of the Archdiocese of Cranganore-Angamaly and author of Varthamanappusthakam, the first travelogue in an Indian language.
Thachil Matthoo Tharakan - a prominent lay leader and Minister of Travancore
Nidhiry Mani Kathanar - founder of Deepika, the first Malayalam daily.
Palackal Thoma, scholar and founder of C.M.I.
Placid J. Podipara - a prominent Saint Thomas Christian historian
Joseph Powathil - Archbishop of Changanacherry and proponent of Syro-Malabar identity and traditions.
Emmanuel Thelly - an orientalist and Syriacist. Author of several books including a Syriac lexicon.
Koonammakkal Thomas - An expert in Syro-Malabar history and Suriyani Malayalam.

Saints, Blesseds, Venerables and Servants of God

Saints

Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception – religious sister of FCC congregation
Kuriakose Elias Chavara – priest and one of the founding members of CMI
Euphrasia Eluvathingal – religious sister of CMC congregation
Mariam Thresia Chiramel– religious sister and founder of Holy Family congregation

Beatified people

Augustine Thevarparambil (Kunjachan) – priest
Rani Maria (1954–1995) – religious sister of FCC congregation

Venerables

Payyappilly Varghese Kathanar – priest and founder of Sisters of the Destitute (1876–1929)
Thomas Kurialachery – first bishop of Archeparchy of Changanassery (1872–1925)
Kadalikkattil Mathai Kathanar – priest (1872–1935)
Joseph Vithayathil – priest and co-founder of Holy Family congregation (1865–1964)
Augustine John Ukken – priest and Congregation of Sisters of Charity (CSC) (1880–1956)

Servants of God

Tommiyachan Poothathil, (1871–1943)
Mary Celine Payyappilly (1906–1993)
Joseph C. Panjikaran (1888–1949)
Antony Thachuparambil (1894–1963)
Mathew Kavukattu (1904–1969)
Maria Celine Kannanaikal (1931–1957)
Thommachen Puthenparampil
Canisius Thekkekara (1914–1998)
Mary Francesca de Chantal (1880–1972)
Varkey Kattarath
Joseph Kandathil

Candidates for canonization

Fr. Emilian Vettath CMI

Notes

^ "In the travelogue Varthamanappusthakam (dated to 1790) written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar, the author uses the terms Malankara Pallikkar,Malankara Idavaka,Malankara Sabha etc. to refer the Syrian Catholic community.^[52]

References

^ "Peshitta | Syriac Bible". Encyclopedia Britannica.
^ East Syriac theology : an introduction. Satna, M.P., India : Ephrem's Publications. 3 September 2007. ISBN 9788188065042 – via Internet Archive.
^ "Major Archbishop's Curia::Syro Malabar Church". www.syromalabarchurch.in.
^ "Eparchial Sees in the Syro-Malabar Church".
^ "Circular - New Liturgical Texts of the Syro-Malabar Church::Syro Malabar News Updates".
^ "Un esercizio di comunione". L'Osservatore Romano.
^ ^a ^b Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Malabar Catholic Church". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 23 June 2022. This sui juris Catholic Church of the E.-Syr. liturgical tradition represents the continuity of the Catholic ecclesial tradition in South India that came into being in the 16th cent.
^ Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 4 By Charles George Herbermann page 1180,1181
^ Brock, Sebastian P. (2011a). "Thomas Christians". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th cent. the Thomas Christians were all part of the Ch. of E. Since the late 16th cent., however, successive divisions have taken place, with the result that today in Kerala there are seven different Churches of Syriac tradition: those of the original E.-Syr. liturgical tradition are: the Malabar Catholic Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church (the latter belonging to the Ch. of E., and not the Chaldean Catholic Church); and of W.-Syr. liturgical tradition: the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, under the Patriarchate of Antioch; the independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church; the Malankara Catholic Church; the small Malabar Independent Syrian Church, and the reformed Mar Thoma Syrian Church.
^ Perczel, István (2018). Daniel King (ed.). Syriac Christianity in India. The Syriac World. Routledge. pp. 688–689. ISBN 9781317482116.
^ ^a ^b Roberson, Ronald G. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2016" (PDF). Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
^ ^a ^b K.C. Zachariah, "Religious Denominations of Kerala" (Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India), Working Paper 468, April 2016, p. 29
^ ^a ^b http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/87/WP468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
^ Ajay Kamalakaran. "When a Keralite priest wrote India's first modern international travelogue". OnManorama. Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 6 April 2022. The book is essentially an account of the Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha (known officially as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church since 1923)
^ "Letter signed by the Holy Father to the major archbishop and bishops of the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church (3 July 2021) | Francis". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 17 April 2022.
^ "Syro Malabar Church ::Cardinal George Alencherry::Major Archbishop". www.syromalabarchurch.in.
^ St. Raphael Syro Malabar Catholic Mission of Cleveland (2014)
^ "Склад і територія". ugcc.ua. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
^ "The Syro-Malabar Church Today: An Overview::The St. Thomas Christians::East Syrian (Chaldean)::Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church". www.syromalabarchurch.in. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
^ George Menachery (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, ISBN 81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press – (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).
^ Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)
^ Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.
^ Frykenberg, pp. 102–107; 115.
^ Mihindukulasuriya, Prabo. "Persian Christians in the Anuradhapura Period". Academia.edu. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
^ "St. Gregorios Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church of Washington, DC : Indian Orthodox Calendar". Stgregorioschurchdc.org. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
^ "Mar Aprem Metropolitan Visits Ancient Anuradhapura Cross in Official Trip to Sri Lanka". Assyrian Church News. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
^ Addai and Mari, Liturgy of. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005
^ P. Malekandathil (2003). St. Thomas Christians: A Historical Analysis of their Origin and Development up to 9th Century AD, from St.Thomas Christians and Nambudiris Jews and Sangam Literature: A Historical Appraisal. Kochi, India: Bosco Puthur (ed.) LRC Publications).
^ ^a ^b Menon (1965).
^ Stephen Neill, A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707, pp. 326-27, Cambridge University Press, 1984
^ Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Malabar Catholic Church". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 23 June 2022. Under Portuguese and other European missionary influence in the late 16th and early 17th cent. the local Church became heavily Romanized, especially after the Synod of Diamper (1599)
^ "CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SYROMALABAR CHURCH". Syro-Malabar Church Official website. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
^ ^a ^b George Joseph Nedumparambil (2013). "A Search of the Roots of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala" (PDF). University of Würzburg. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
^ Wilfred, Felix (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-932906-9.
^ Roberson, Ronald. "The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church". E Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
^ "Thomas Christians". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 May 2021. India's ancient Christians looked to the Assyrian Church of the East (often disparaged as "Nestorian" by Western or Roman Catholic Christians, who associated it with the anathematized bishop Nestorius) and its catholicos (or patriarch) for ecclesiastical authority
^ Brock, Sebastian P. "Thomas Christians". e-GEDSH:Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Although India was supplied with bishops from the Middle East, the effective control lay in the hands of the indigenous Archdeacon.
^ ^a ^b Joseph, Clara A.B (2019). Christianity in India: The Anti-Colonial Turn. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351123846. Documents address him as the Jathikku Karthavyan [the head of the caste], that is, the head of the Thomas Christians.....even when there were more than one foreign bishop, there was only one Archdeacon for entire St.Thomas Community..
^ Habbi 1966, p. 99-132, 199-230.
^ Wilmshurst 2000, p. 21-22.
^ Herbermann, Charles George (2005). Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 4. Cosmo Publications. p. 1181. ISBN 9788177559385. ....and Abraham succeeded also in obtaining his nomination and creation as Archbishop Angamale from the pope, with letters to the Archbishop of Goa, and to the Bishop Cochin dated 27 Feb 1565.
^ "Koonan Oath 00001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
^ "Thomas Christians". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 25 May 2022. In 1653 anti-Catholic kattanars met at Koonen ("Crooked") Cross, a granite monument at Mattancheri. There they swore an oath to never again accept another farangi (European) prelate and installed their own high metran
^ ^a ^b Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, "Eastern Christianity in India"
^ Census of India (1961: Kerala. Office of the Registrar General. 1965. p. 111. There are various versions about the wording of swearing, one version being that it was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another that it was directed against the authority of church of Rome.
^ The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity,John Anthony McGuckin
^ Neill 2004, pp. 320–321.
^ Catholic Encyclopedia profile of "St. Thomas Christians" - The Carmelite Period
^ Thekkedath, History of Christianity in India"
^ ^a ^b The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. Vol.3. Mythic Society. 1911. p. 141. This incident marks an epoch in the history of the Syrian Church, and led to a separation of the community into parties, namely the Pazhayakuru (the Romo-Syrians) who adhered to the Church of Rome according to the Synod at Diamper ; and the Puttankuru , the Jacobite Syrians , who after the oath of the Coonan Cross got Mar Gregory from Antioch, acknowledged the spiritual supremacy thereof. The former owed its foundation to the Archbishop Menezes and the Synod at Diamper in 1599 and its reconciliation after the revolt to the Carmelite Bishop Father Joseph of St.Mary whom the Pope appointed in 1659.
^ Neill, Stephen (1970). The Story of the Christian Church in India and Pakistan. Christian Literature Society. p. 36. At the end of a period of twenty years , it was found that about two - thirds of the people had remained within the Roman allegiance ; one - third stood by the archdeacon and had organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church, faithful to the old Eastern traditions and hostile to all the Roman claims.
^ Thoma Kathanar, Paremmakkal (2014). Varthamanappusthakam (Translation of John Malieckal). Oriental Institute of Religious Studies India Publications, Vadavathoor. ISBN 978-93-82762-15-7.
^ ^a ^b Malekandathil, Pius (2013). "Nazrani History and Discourse on Early Nationalism in Varthamanapusthakam". NSC Network. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
^ Whitehouse, Thomas, ed. (1873). Lingerings of light in a dark land: Researches into the Syrian church of Malabar. William Brown and Co. p. 308.
^ Roberson, Ronald. "The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church". CNEWA.
^ "Presentation of the Pontifical Yearbook 2019 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2017". Holy See Press Office. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
^ George Thalian: "The Great Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil, D. D.: the Outline of a Vocation"., Mar Louis Memorial Press, 1961. (Postscript)^{[permanent dead link]} (PDF)^{[permanent dead link]}.
^ Divine Praises in Aramaic Tradition by Pathikulangara Varghese Kathanar
^ The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy By Varkey J. Vithayathil
^ Official Website
^ "Syro Malabar News Updates". www.syromalabarchurch.in. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
^ The Synod of Diamper and the Liturgy Jacob Vellian The Synod of Diamper Revisited, George Nedugatt, ed.
^ A Study of the Syro-Malabar Liturgy (George Vavanikunnel)
^ "Syro-Malabar Major Archdiocese of Ernakulam–Angamaly [GCatholic.org]".
^ Francis Eluvathingal, Syro-Malabar Church Since the Eastern Code
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d [1], Syro Malabar Church: An Overview.
^ ^a ^b "Provisions for the Syro-Malabar Church, 10.10.2017" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
^ At a Glance Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, Syro Malabar Church Website.
^ "Syro-Malabar Church Dublin Ireland". Retrieved 27 August 2016.

References and bibliography

ASSEMANI, Bibliotheca Orientalis (Rome, 1719–28); DE SOUZA.
Orientale Conquistado (2 vols., Indian reprint, Examiner Press, Bombay).
Gouvea, Antonio de (2003) [1606]. Malekandathil, Pius (ed.). Jornada of Dom Alexis de Menezes: A Portuguese Account of the Sixteenth Century Malabar. Kochi: L. R. C. Publications. ISBN 9788188979004..
Fr. tr. De Glen, Histoire Orientale etc. (Brussels, 1609); DU JARRIC.
Jarric, Pierre du (1615). Thesaurus rerum Indicarum. Sumptibus Petri Henningii..
Paulinus, a. S. Bartholomaeo (1794). "India Orientalis Christiana'". Typis Salomonianis. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
MacKenzie, Gordon Thomson (1901). Christianity in Travancore. Travancore Government Press. ISBN 9781230341651.
Medlycott, Adolphus E. (1905). India and the Apostle Thomas: An Inquiry, with a Critical Analysis of the Acta Thomae.
Thalian, George (1961). "The Great Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil, D: The Outline of a Vocation". Mar Louis Memorial Press.(Postscript)^{[permanent dead link]}(PDF)^{[permanent dead link]}.
Menachery G (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, ISBN 81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press – (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture ... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs). Vol. 1, 1982. Vol. 3, 2010.
Mundadan, A. Mathias. (1984) History of Christianity in India, vol. 1, Bangalore, India: Church History Association of India.
Podipara, Placid J. (1970) "The Thomas Christians". London: Darton, Longman and Tidd, 1970. (is a readable and exhaustive study of the St. Thomas Christians.)
Philip, E. M. (1908) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas (1908; Changanassery: Mor Adai Study Center, 2002).
Aprem, Mar. (1977) The Chaldaean Syrian Church in India. Trichur, Kerala, India: Mar Narsai, 1977.
Menachery, George (2000) Kodungallur – The Cradle of Christianity in India, Thrissur: Marthoma Pontifical Shrine.
Menachery, George & Snaitang, Dr. Oberland (2012)"India's Christian Heritage". The Church History Association of India, Dharmaram College, Bangalore.
Acts of St. Thomas (Syriac) MA. Bevan, London, 1897
Tisserant, Eugene (1957). Hambye, E. R. (ed.). Eastern Christianity in India: A History of the Syro-Malabar Church from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Westminster: Newman Press.
Michael Geddes, (1694) A Short History of the Church of Malabar together with the Synod of Diamper, London. Ed. Prof. George Menachery in the Nazranies i.e. The Indian Church History Classics I, 1998.
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T.K Velu Pillai, (1940) "The Travancore State Manual"; 4 volumes; Trivandrum
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Joseph, T. K. The Malabar Christians and Their Ancient Documents. Trivandrum, India, 1929.
Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)
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External links

9°58′56″N 76°16′35″E / 9.9823°N 76.2763°E / 9.9823; 76.2763

[53] "In the travelogue Varthamanappusthakam (dated to 1790) written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar, the author uses the terms Malankara Pallikkar,Malankara Idavaka,Malankara Sabha etc. to refer the Syrian Catholic community.^[52]

[1] "Peshitta | Syriac Bible". Encyclopedia Britannica.

[2] East Syriac theology : an introduction. Satna, M.P., India : Ephrem's Publications. 3 September 2007. ISBN 9788188065042 – via Internet Archive.

[3] "Major Archbishop's Curia::Syro Malabar Church". www.syromalabarchurch.in.

[4] "Eparchial Sees in the Syro-Malabar Church".

[5] "Circular - New Liturgical Texts of the Syro-Malabar Church::Syro Malabar News Updates".

[6] "Un esercizio di comunione". L'Osservatore Romano.

[BrockSMC-7] Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Malabar Catholic Church". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 23 June 2022. This sui juris Catholic Church of the E.-Syr. liturgical tradition represents the continuity of the Catholic ecclesial tradition in South India that came into being in the 16th cent.

[Charles_George_Herbermann-8] Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 4 By Charles George Herbermann page 1180,1181

[9] Brock, Sebastian P. (2011a). "Thomas Christians". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th cent. the Thomas Christians were all part of the Ch. of E. Since the late 16th cent., however, successive divisions have taken place, with the result that today in Kerala there are seven different Churches of Syriac tradition: those of the original E.-Syr. liturgical tradition are: the Malabar Catholic Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church (the latter belonging to the Ch. of E., and not the Chaldean Catholic Church); and of W.-Syr. liturgical tradition: the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, under the Patriarchate of Antioch; the independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church; the Malankara Catholic Church; the small Malabar Independent Syrian Church, and the reformed Mar Thoma Syrian Church.

[10] Perczel, István (2018). Daniel King (ed.). Syriac Christianity in India. The Syriac World. Routledge. pp. 688–689. ISBN 9781317482116.

[Pontificio-11] Roberson, Ronald G. "The Eastern Catholic Churches 2016" (PDF). Eastern Catholic Churches Statistics. Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.

[Population_kerala-12] K.C. Zachariah, "Religious Denominations of Kerala" (Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India), Working Paper 468, April 2016, p. 29

[Population_kerala_pdf-13] ttp://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/87/WP468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

[:0-14] Ajay Kamalakaran. "When a Keralite priest wrote India's first modern international travelogue". OnManorama. Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 6 April 2022. The book is essentially an account of the Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha (known officially as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church since 1923)

[15] "Letter signed by the Holy Father to the major archbishop and bishops of the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church (3 July 2021) | Francis". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 17 April 2022.

[16] "Syro Malabar Church ::Cardinal George Alencherry::Major Archbishop". www.syromalabarchurch.in.

[17] St. Raphael Syro Malabar Catholic Mission of Cleveland (2014)

[18] "Склад і територія". ugcc.ua. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.

[Official_Website-19] "The Syro-Malabar Church Today: An Overview::The St. Thomas Christians::East Syrian (Chaldean)::Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church". www.syromalabarchurch.in. Retrieved 28 February 2020.

[Menachery-20] George Menachery (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, ISBN 81-87132-06-X, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press – (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).

[Lbrown-21] Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)

[Puthiakunnel-22] Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.

[23] Frykenberg, pp. 102–107; 115.

[auto-24] Mihindukulasuriya, Prabo. "Persian Christians in the Anuradhapura Period". Academia.edu. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

[25] "St. Gregorios Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church of Washington, DC : Indian Orthodox Calendar". Stgregorioschurchdc.org. Archived from the original on 21 January 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2018.

[26] "Mar Aprem Metropolitan Visits Ancient Anuradhapura Cross in Official Trip to Sri Lanka". Assyrian Church News. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.

[ODCC-27] Addai and Mari, Liturgy of. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005

[From_Nasrani_Foundation-28] P. Malekandathil (2003). St. Thomas Christians: A Historical Analysis of their Origin and Development up to 9th Century AD, from St.Thomas Christians and Nambudiris Jews and Sangam Literature: A Historical Appraisal. Kochi, India: Bosco Puthur (ed.) LRC Publications).

[FOOTNOTEMenon1965-29] Menon (1965).

[30] Stephen Neill, A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707, pp. 326-27, Cambridge University Press, 1984

[31] Brock, Sebastian P. (2011). "Malabar Catholic Church". In Sebastian P. Brock; Aaron M. Butts; George A. Kiraz; Lucas Van Rompay (eds.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 23 June 2022. Under Portuguese and other European missionary influence in the late 16th and early 17th cent. the local Church became heavily Romanized, especially after the Synod of Diamper (1599)

[32] "CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SYROMALABAR CHURCH". Syro-Malabar Church Official website. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

[Nedumparambil-33] George Joseph Nedumparambil (2013). "A Search of the Roots of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala" (PDF). University of Würzburg. Retrieved 19 September 2019.

[34] Wilfred, Felix (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Christianity in Asia. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-932906-9.

[35] Roberson, Ronald. "The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church". E Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2018.

[36] "Thomas Christians". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 May 2021. India's ancient Christians looked to the Assyrian Church of the East (often disparaged as "Nestorian" by Western or Roman Catholic Christians, who associated it with the anathematized bishop Nestorius) and its catholicos (or patriarch) for ecclesiastical authority

[37] Brock, Sebastian P. "Thomas Christians". e-GEDSH:Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage. Although India was supplied with bishops from the Middle East, the effective control lay in the hands of the indigenous Archdeacon.

[ClaraAB-38] Joseph, Clara A.B (2019). Christianity in India: The Anti-Colonial Turn. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781351123846. Documents address him as the Jathikku Karthavyan [the head of the caste], that is, the head of the Thomas Christians.....even when there were more than one foreign bishop, there was only one Archdeacon for entire St.Thomas Community..

[FOOTNOTEHabbi196699-132,_199-230-39] Habbi 1966, p. 99-132, 199-230.

[FOOTNOTEWilmshurst200021-22-40] Wilmshurst 2000, p. 21-22.

[CG_Herbermann1-41] Herbermann, Charles George (2005). Encyclopaedia of sects & religious doctrines, Volume 4. Cosmo Publications. p. 1181. ISBN 9788177559385. ....and Abraham succeeded also in obtaining his nomination and creation as Archbishop Angamale from the pope, with letters to the Archbishop of Goa, and to the Bishop Cochin dated 27 Feb 1565.

[42] "Koonan Oath 00001" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2007.

[43] "Thomas Christians". britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 25 May 2022. In 1653 anti-Catholic kattanars met at Koonen ("Crooked") Cross, a granite monument at Mattancheri. There they swore an oath to never again accept another farangi (European) prelate and installed their own high metran

[ReferenceB-44] Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, "Eastern Christianity in India"

[Gazette-45] Census of India (1961: Kerala. Office of the Registrar General. 1965. p. 111. There are various versions about the wording of swearing, one version being that it was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another that it was directed against the authority of church of Rome.

[46] The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity,John Anthony McGuckin

[FOOTNOTENeill2004320–321-47] Neill 2004, pp. 320–321.

[48] Catholic Encyclopedia profile of "St. Thomas Christians" - The Carmelite Period

[ReferenceC-49] Thekkedath, History of Christianity in India"

[MS-50] The Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society. Vol.3. Mythic Society. 1911. p. 141. This incident marks an epoch in the history of the Syrian Church, and led to a separation of the community into parties, namely the Pazhayakuru (the Romo-Syrians) who adhered to the Church of Rome according to the Synod at Diamper ; and the Puttankuru , the Jacobite Syrians , who after the oath of the Coonan Cross got Mar Gregory from Antioch, acknowledged the spiritual supremacy thereof. The former owed its foundation to the Archbishop Menezes and the Synod at Diamper in 1599 and its reconciliation after the revolt to the Carmelite Bishop Father Joseph of St.Mary whom the Pope appointed in 1659.

[ChurchInIndiaAndPak-51] Neill, Stephen (1970). The Story of the Christian Church in India and Pakistan. Christian Literature Society. p. 36. At the end of a period of twenty years , it was found that about two - thirds of the people had remained within the Roman allegiance ; one - third stood by the archdeacon and had organized themselves as the independent Malankara Church, faithful to the old Eastern traditions and hostile to all the Roman claims.

[VP-OIRSI-52] Thoma Kathanar, Paremmakkal (2014). Varthamanappusthakam (Translation of John Malieckal). Oriental Institute of Religious Studies India Publications, Vadavathoor. ISBN 978-93-82762-15-7.

[Malekandathil-54] Malekandathil, Pius (2013). "Nazrani History and Discourse on Early Nationalism in Varthamanapusthakam". NSC Network. Retrieved 28 January 2013.

[55] Whitehouse, Thomas, ed. (1873). Lingerings of light in a dark land: Researches into the Syrian church of Malabar. William Brown and Co. p. 308.

[miranda-56] Roberson, Ronald. "The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church". CNEWA.

[Annuario-57] "Presentation of the Pontifical Yearbook 2019 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2017". Holy See Press Office. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2019.

[58] George Thalian: "The Great Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil, D. D.: the Outline of a Vocation"., Mar Louis Memorial Press, 1961. (Postscript)^{[permanent dead link]} (PDF)^{[permanent dead link]}.

[59] Divine Praises in Aramaic Tradition by Pathikulangara Varghese Kathanar

[60] The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy By Varkey J. Vithayathil

[61] Official Website

[62] "Syro Malabar News Updates". www.syromalabarchurch.in. Retrieved 28 February 2020.

[63] The Synod of Diamper and the Liturgy Jacob Vellian The Synod of Diamper Revisited, George Nedugatt, ed.

[64] A Study of the Syro-Malabar Liturgy (George Vavanikunnel)

[65] "Syro-Malabar Major Archdiocese of Ernakulam–Angamaly [GCatholic.org]".

[66] Francis Eluvathingal, Syro-Malabar Church Since the Eastern Code

[statistics1-67] [1], Syro Malabar Church: An Overview.

[pr20171010-68] "Provisions for the Syro-Malabar Church, 10.10.2017" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. Retrieved 24 May 2018.

[statistics2-69] At a Glance Archived 2009-09-04 at the Wayback Machine, Syro Malabar Church Website.

[70] "Syro-Malabar Church Dublin Ireland". Retrieved 27 August 2016.

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@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
 {{Infobox Christian denomination
-| name                = Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
+| name                = Syro-Malabar Church
 | native_name         = {{lang-syr|ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ}}<br>{{lang-lat|Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium }}<br>{{lang-mal| മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി  സഭ}}
 |native_name_lang=| image               = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg
@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 | leader_name3        = Major Archiepiscopal Curia<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar-major-archbishop-curia.php|title=Major Archbishop's Curia::Syro Malabar Church|website=www.syromalabarchurch.in}}</ref>
 | area                = [[India]] and Nasrani Malayali [[diaspora]]<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar-church-diocese.php | title=Eparchial Sees in the Syro-Malabar Church}}</ref>
-| founded_date        = c. 50 AD (Saint Thomas Christianity, by tradition), <br> 1662 (reunification with Catholic Church)<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church|editor-last=Cross|editor-first=F.L.|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|date=1957|edition=1958|location=[[London]]|chapter=Malabar Christians|page=844-845}}</ref>
+| founded_date        = c. 50 AD (Saint Thomas Christianity, by tradition), <br> 16th century (as Catholic Church)<ref name=BrockSMC/>
-| branched_from       = [[Saint Thomas Christians]]<ref name="Frykenberg_on_split">{{cite book |last= Frykenberg |first= Robert Eric |title=Christianity in India From Beginnings to the Present |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=369 |isbn=978-0-19-826377-7|url=https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Christianity_in_India_From_Beginnings_to/sOrglHSX6rsC?hl=en |language=en |quote=Once Mar Thoma I had been consecrated and joined to the Patriarchate of Antioch, Mar Gregorios himself stayed on in Malabar as joint ruler over the newly formed ''Jacoba'' Malankara Church. This joint rule, lasting twenty years (when they both died), made permanent the ‘vertical’ split between Malabar Christians linked to Rome and Malankara Christians linked to Antioch (in Mardin). Those of the ‘new allegiance’, known as Puthankuttukar, were led by metrans who looked to the Jacoba Patriarch of Antioch in Mardin. Those of the ‘old allegiance’, known as Pazhayakuttukar, looked to Rome.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|quote=The community of the St Thomas Christians was now divided into two: one group known as the 'old party' '''joined''' in communion with the [[Latin Church|Western Church]] and in obedience to the Pope whose authority they recognized in the [[Patriarchate of the East Indies|archbishop of Goa]]. The 'new party' (Puttankuttukar) stayed with [[Mar Thoma I|Mar Thoma]] and eventually came under the influence of and entered into communion with the [[Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch|West Syrian Church of Antioch]]|page=79|first1=Leonard|last1=Fernando|first2= G. |last2= Gispert-Sauch|year=2004|isbn=9780670057696|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7dgYjLCSa0wC&pg=PA79|title=Christianity in India: Two Thousand Years of Faith}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|quote=[[Mar Thoma I|His]] followers became known as the 'new party' (Puthankuttukar), as distinct from the 'old party' (Pazhayakuttukar), the name by which the Catholic party became known.|page=361|title=Christianity in India: From Beginnings to the Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mXgSDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA361|author=Robert Eric Frykenberg|year=2008|isbn=9780198263777}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|quote=those who rejected the Latin rite were known as the New Party, which later became the Jacobite Church|title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism: 4-volume Set|first=Hans J.|last=Hillerbrand|isbn=9781135960285|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PMSTAgAAQBAJ&q=Catholic+India+New+Party+separated+from&pg=RA1-PA811}}</ref>
 | founder             = [[Thomas the Apostle|Saint Thomas the Apostle]] by tradition<ref>{{cite news|title=Un esercizio di comunione|url=https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2021-07/quo-159/un-esercizio-di-comunione.html|newspaper= L'Osservatore Romano}}</ref>
 | founded_place       = [[Malabar Coast]], [[South India]]
 | liturgy             = [[East Syriac Rite]] - [[Liturgy of Addai and Mari|Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/news_details.php?news=2512|title = Circular - New Liturgical Texts of the Syro-Malabar Church::Syro Malabar News Updates}}</ref><!--<br>[[Hallowing of Theodore of Mopsuestia]]<br>[[Hallowing of Nestorius]]-->
 | language            = [[Syriac language|Liturgical Syriac]], [[Malayalam]], [[Syro-Malabarica]], [[English language|English]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Kannada]], [[Hindi]] and most other Indian languages
+| branched_from       = [[Saint Thomas Christians]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Sebastian P. |last=Brock|author-link=Sebastian Brock |title=Thomas Christians |encyclopedia=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition |editor1=Sebastian P. Brock |editor2=Aaron M. Butts |editor3=George A. Kiraz |editor4=Lucas Van Rompay |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2011a |quote= Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 16th cent. the Thomas Christians were all part of the Ch. of E. Since the late 16th cent., however, successive divisions have taken place, with the result that today in Kerala there are seven different Churches of Syriac tradition: those of the original E.-Syr. liturgical tradition are: the Malabar Catholic Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church (the latter belonging to the Ch. of E., and not the Chaldean Catholic Church); and of W.-Syr. liturgical tradition: the [[Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church]], under the Patriarchate of Antioch; the independent [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]; the [[Malankara Catholic Church]]; the small [[Malabar Independent Syrian Church]], and the reformed [[Mar Thoma Syrian Church]].}}</ref>
 | members             = 4.25 million worldwide, per 2016 ''[[Annuario Pontificio]]''<ref name=Pontificio/><br>2.35 million in [[Kerala]], per 2011 ''Kerala state census''<ref name="Population_kerala"/><ref name="Population_kerala_pdf"/>
 | ministers_type      = [[Hierarchy of the Catholic Church|Clergy]]
@@ Line 45: / Line 45: @@
 | headquarters        = Mount Saint Thomas,<br/> [[Kakkanad]], [[Kochi]], [[India]]
 | territory           = India,<br>with diaspora in USA, Australia and Oceania, Europe, UK, Canada, and Nations of the Persian Gulf
+| separations         = [[Puthenkoor]]<ref>{{cite book|last= Perczel|first=István|author-link=István Perczel|title=Syriac Christianity in India|series=The Syriac World|editor=Daniel King|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-GEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA653|isbn=9781317482116|publisher=Routledge|pages=688–689|year=2018}}</ref><br>[[Chaldean Syrian Church]] (1870s)
-| separations         = [[Chaldean Syrian Church]] (1870s)
-| other_names         = '''''[[Syrian Catholics of Malabar|Syrian Catholic]]''''' (SC), <br> '''''Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha'''''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=When a Keralite priest wrote India's first modern international travelogue |url=https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/keralaspora/2020/01/11/keralite-priest-wrote-indias-first-modern-travelogue.html |access-date=2022-04-06 |website=OnManorama}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=May 2022}}<br> '''''Pazhayakoor''''' (colloquial name for members)
+| other_names         = '''''[[Syrian Catholics of Malabar|Syrian Catholic]]''''' (SC), <br> '''''Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha'''''<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=When a Keralite priest wrote India's first modern international travelogue |url=https://www.onmanorama.com/lifestyle/keralaspora/2020/01/11/keralite-priest-wrote-indias-first-modern-travelogue.html |access-date=2022-04-06 |author=Ajay Kamalakaran |website=OnManorama |quote=The book is essentially an account of the Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha (known officially as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church since 1923) |publisher= [[Malayala Manorama]]}}</ref><br> '''''Pazhayakoor''''' (colloquial name for members)
 |website             = [http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/ syromalabarchurch.in]
 |website_title1=Official News Portal|website1=[https://syromalabarvision.com syromalabarvision.com]| footnotes           =
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 The Church traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of [[Thomas the Apostle]] in the 1st century.<ref name="Official Website">{{Cite web|url=http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar-church.php|title=The Syro-Malabar Church Today: An Overview::The St. Thomas Christians::East Syrian (Chaldean)::Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church|website=www.syromalabarchurch.in|access-date=2020-02-28}}</ref><ref name="Menachery">[[George Menachery]] (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, {{ISBN|81-87132-06-X}}, Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press&nbsp;– (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).</ref><ref name="Lbrown">Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)</ref><ref name="Puthiakunnel">Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur.</ref> The earliest recorded organised Christian presence in India dates to the 4th century, when [[Sasanian Empire|Persia]]n missionaries of the East Syriac Rite tradition, members of what later became the [[Church of the East]], established themselves in modern-day Kerala and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>Frykenberg, pp. 102–107; 115.</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/2479127|title=Persian Christians in the Anuradhapura Period|first=Prabo|last=Mihindukulasuriya|access-date=19 December 2018|website=Academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stgregorioschurchdc.org/cgi/doc.cgi?doc=ChurchHistory3.lesson&lang=en|title=St. Gregorios Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church of Washington, DC : Indian Orthodox Calendar|website=Stgregorioschurchdc.org|access-date=19 December 2018|archive-date=21 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121170610/http://www.stgregorioschurchdc.org/cgi/doc.cgi?doc=ChurchHistory3.lesson&lang=en|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2013/08/06/mar-aprem-metropolitan-visits-ancient-anuradhapura-cross-in-official-trip-to-sri-lanka/4480 |title=Mar Aprem Metropolitan Visits Ancient Anuradhapura Cross in Official Trip to Sri Lanka |publisher=Assyrian Church News |date=6 August 2013 |access-date=1 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226144609/http://news.assyrianchurch.org/2013/08/06/mar-aprem-metropolitan-visits-ancient-anuradhapura-cross-in-official-trip-to-sri-lanka/4480 |archive-date=26 February 2015 }}</ref>  The Church of the East shared communion with the [[Great Church]] (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy) until the [[Council of Ephesus]] in the 5th century, separating primarily over [[Chalcedonian Definition|differences in]] [[Christology]] and due to political reasons. The Syro-Malabar Church employs an [[Greater India|Indianised]] variant of the [[East Syriac Rite]], which dates back to 3rd century [[Edessa]], [[Upper Mesopotamia]].<ref name="ODCC">''Addai and Mari, Liturgy of''. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005</ref> As such it is a part of [[Syriac Christianity]] by [[liturgy]] and heritage.<ref name="From Nasrani Foundation">{{cite book|author=P. Malekandathil |year=2003 |title=St. Thomas Christians: A Historical Analysis of their Origin and Development up to 9th Century AD, from St.Thomas Christians and Nambudiris Jews and Sangam Literature: A Historical Appraisal |publisher=Bosco Puthur (ed.) LRC Publications) |location=Kochi, India}}</ref>
-After the [[schism of 1552]], a faction of the Church of the East came in communion with the [[Holy See]] of Rome (modern-day [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]) and the Church of the East collapsed due to internal struggles. Throughout the later half of the 16th century, the Malabar Church was under Chaldean Catholic jurisdiction. Through the [[Synod of Diamper]] of 1599, the Malabar Church was subjected directly under the authority of the [[Latin Catholic]] ''[[Padroado]]'' [[Patriarchate of the East Indies|Archbishopric of Goa]] and the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]]. After a half-century administration under the Goa Archdiocese, dissidents held the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] in 1653 as a protest. In response, [[Pope Alexander VII]], with the help of [[Discalced Carmelites|Carmelite]] missionaries, by 1662, was able to reunite the majority of the dissidents with the Catholic Church. The Syro-Malabar Church descends from the Saint Thomas Christians who first aligned with the Catholic Church at Synod of Diamper in 1599<ref name="WWH">{{cite book |last=Hunter|first= William Wilson |title=The Indian Empire: Its People, History, and Products |date=1886|publisher= Trübner & Co, London |page=243 |url=|language=en |isbn=|quote="The ''Pazheia Kuttukar'', or old Church, owed its foundation to Archbishop Menezes and the Synod of Diamper in 1599, and its reconciliation, after the revolt, to the Carmelite Bishop of St.Mary, in 1656. It retains in its services Syrian language and in part the syrian ritual. But it acknowledges the supremacy of Pope and its Vicars Apostolic. Its members are now known as Catholics of the Syrian Rite}}</ref> and those who reunited with the Holy See under the leadership of [[Parambil Chandy|Mar Palliveettil Chandy]] during the period 1655-1663.{{sfnp|Menon|1965}}<ref>Stephen Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707'', pp. 326-27, Cambridge University Press, 1984</ref> During the 17th and 18th centuries the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cranganore|Archdiocese of Cranganore]] was under the Syro-Malabarians, but it was later suppressed and integrated into the modern day Latin [[Archdiocese of Verapoly]].
+After the [[schism of 1552]], a faction of the Church of the East came in communion with the [[Holy See]] of Rome (modern-day [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]) and the Church of the East collapsed due to internal struggles. Throughout the later half of the 16th century, the Malabar Church was under Chaldean Catholic jurisdiction. Through the [[Synod of Diamper]] of 1599, the Malabar Church was subjected directly under the authority of the [[Latin Catholic]] ''[[Padroado]]'' [[Patriarchate of the East Indies|Archbishopric of Goa]] and the [[Society of Jesus|Jesuits]]. After a half-century administration under the Goa Archdiocese, dissidents held the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] in 1653 as a protest. In response, [[Pope Alexander VII]], with the help of [[Discalced Carmelites|Carmelite]] missionaries, by 1662, was able to reunite the majority of the dissidents with the Catholic Church. The Syro-Malabar Church descends from those Saint Thomas Christians who first aligned with the Catholic Church in the mid-sixteenth century under the [[Chaldean Catholic]] bishops<ref name=BrockSMC>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Sebastian P. |last=Brock|author-link=Sebastian Brock |title=Malabar Catholic Church |encyclopedia=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition |editor1=Sebastian P. Brock |editor2=Aaron M. Butts |editor3=George A. Kiraz |editor4=Lucas Van Rompay |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Malabar-Catholic-Church |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2011 |access-date=23 June 2022 |quote= This sui juris Catholic Church of the E.-Syr. liturgical tradition represents the continuity of the Catholic ecclesial tradition in South India that came into being in the 16th cent.}}</ref> and those who reunited with the Catholic Church under the leadership of [[Parambil Chandy|Mar Palliveettil Chandy]] during the period 1655-1663.{{sfnp|Menon|1965}}<ref>Stephen Neill, ''A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707'', pp. 326-27, Cambridge University Press, 1984</ref> During the 17th and 18th centuries the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cranganore|Archdiocese of Cranganore]] was under the Syro-Malabarians, but it was later suppressed and integrated into the modern day Latin [[Archdiocese of Verapoly]]. Until the late nineteenth century, the Syro-Malabar Church was deprived of self jurisdiction and was under the administration of local Latin Catholic hierarchy which resulted in the excessive liturgical and ecclesiastical [[Liturgical latinisation|Romanization]] of the church.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Sebastian P. |last=Brock|author-link=Sebastian Brock |title=Malabar Catholic Church |encyclopedia=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition |editor1=Sebastian P. Brock |editor2=Aaron M. Butts |editor3=George A. Kiraz |editor4=Lucas Van Rompay |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Malabar-Catholic-Church |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2011 |access-date=23 June 2022 |quote= Under Portuguese and other European missionary influence in the late 16th and early 17th cent. the local Church became heavily Romanized, especially after the Synod of Diamper (1599)}}</ref>
 After over two centuries under the Latin Church's hegemony, in 1887, [[Pope Leo XIII]] fully separated the Syro-Malabarians from the Latin Church (the Archdiocese of Verapoly remained as the jurisdiction for Latin Catholics). Leo XIII established two [[Apostolic Vicariate]]s for Syro-Malabarians, [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur|Thrissur]] and [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanassery|Changanassery]] (originally named Kottayam), and in 1896, the Vicariate of [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly|Ernakulam]] was erected as well, under the guidance of indigenous Syro-Malabar bishops. In 1923, the Syro-Malabar hierarchy was organized and unified with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See and [[Mar Augustine Kandathil]] as the first head and Archbishop of the Church.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.syromalabarchurch.in/syro-malabar-church-cronology.php| title=CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SYROMALABAR CHURCH|publisher=Syro-Malabar Church Official website | access-date=13 August 2020}}</ref> The Syro-Malabar Church in effect became an autonomous ''sui iuris'' Eastern church within the Catholic communion.<ref name="Nedumparambil">{{cite web|author=George Joseph Nedumparambil|date=2013|title=A Search of the Roots of the Syro-Malabar Church in Kerala|url=https://opus.bibliothek.uni-wuerzburg.de/opus4-wuerzburg/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/6595/file/Joseph_Nedumparambil.pdf|access-date=19 September 2019|publisher=University of Würzburg}}</ref>

Syro-Malabar Catholic Church hierarchy
Bold = Archeparchy
Major Archiepiscopal province	Ernakulam-Angamaly Idukki Kothamangalam
Other proper provinces in southern India	Changanacherry Kanjirappally Palai Thuckalay Tellicherry Belthangady Bhadravathi Kalyan Mananthavady Mandya Thamarassery Thrissur Irinjalakuda Palghat Ramanathapuram
Proper Archeparchy without suffragan	Kottayam
Eparchies within Latin provinces in India	Adilabad Bijnor Chanda Gorakhpur Jagadalpur Rajkot Sagar Satna Ujjain
Exempt jurisdictions in India	Faridabad Eparchy Hosur Eparchy Shamshabad Eparchy
Exempt jurisdictions outside India	Chicago Eparchy for the USA Great Britain Eparchy Melbourne Eparchy for Australia Mississauga Eparchy for Canada
Apostolic Visitations	Apostolic Visitation for Europe of the Syro Malabars
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Christianity in Kerala
Denominations	Assemblies of God in India Chaldean Syrian Church Church of God (Full Gospel) in India Church of South India Indian Pentecostal Church of God Jacobite Syrian Christian Church Kerala Brethren Latin Catholic Church Malabar Independent Syrian Church Mar Thoma Syrian Church Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Salvation Army St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India Syro-Malabar Church Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Pentecostal Mission
Religious organisations	Divine Retreat Centre, Muringoor Jerusalem Retreat Center Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council Parumala Seminary Potta Ashram Thrikkunnathu Seminary
Related	All India Catholic Union Angamaly police firing Arnos Pathiri Benjamin Bailey (missionary) Bible translations into Malayalam Carmelites of Mary Immaculate Christianity in India Congregation of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux Hermann Gundert Malankara-Persian ecclesiastical relations Maramon Convention Pentecostalism in Kerala Saint Thomas Christians Sister Abhaya murder case Sisters of the Destitute Synod of Diamper Syrian churches of Kerala Syrian Malabar Nasrani Varthamanappusthakam Niranam Grandhavari
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Syro-Malabar Church
Syriac: ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ Latin: Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium Malayalam: മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sliva or Saint Thomas christian cross, the symbol of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Abbreviation	SMC
Type	Self-governing church (sui iuris)
Classification	Eastern Catholic
Orientation	Eastern Christianity (Syriac Christianity)
Scripture	Holy Bible^[1] Peshitta (Syriac) Malayalam POC Bible (Malayalam) Douay–Rheims Bible (English)
Theology	East Syriac theology^[2]
Polity	Episcopal polity
Governance	Holy Episcopal Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church
Pope	Francis
Major Archbishop	George Alencherry
Administration	Major Archiepiscopal Curia^[3]
Parishes	3,224
Region	India and Nasrani Malayali diaspora^[4]
Language	Liturgical Syriac, Malayalam, Syro-Malabarica, English, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi and most other Indian languages
Liturgy	East Syriac Rite - Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari^[5]
Headquarters	Mount Saint Thomas, Kakkanad, Kochi, India
Territory	India, with diaspora in USA, Australia and Oceania, Europe, UK, Canada, and Nations of the Persian Gulf
Founder	Saint Thomas the Apostle by tradition^[6]
Origin	c. 50 AD (Saint Thomas Christianity, by tradition), 16th century (as Catholic Church)^[7] Malabar Coast, South India
Separated from	Church of the East^[8]
Branched from	Saint Thomas Christians^[9]
Separations	Puthenkoor^[10] Chaldean Syrian Church (1870s)
Members	4.25 million worldwide, per 2016 Annuario Pontificio^[11] 2.35 million in Kerala, per 2011 Kerala state census^[12]^[13]
Clergy	Bishops: 64 Priests: 9,121
Other name(s)	Syrian Catholic (SC), Malankare Kaldaya Suriyani Sabha^[14] Pazhayakoor (colloquial name for members)
Official website	syromalabarchurch.in
Official News Portal	syromalabarvision.com

Revision as of 07:00, 27 June 2022