Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Orthodox Church of the East in Malankara, Kerala, India}}
{{Short description|Orthodox Church in Kerala, India}}
{{Redirect|Indian Orthodox Church|other uses|Indian Orthodox churches}}
{{Redirect|Indian Orthodox Church|other uses|Indian Orthodox churches}}
{{distinguish|Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church}}
{{about|the modern denomination|the historic church body|Malankara Church}}
{{distinguish|Jacobite Syrian Christian Church}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date = February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox Christian denomination
{{Infobox Christian denomination
| icon          = Catholicate Emblem of MOSC.png
| icon          =
| icon_width    = 50px
| icon_width    = 100px
| icon_alt      = Logo of the church
| icon_alt      = Logo of the MOSC
| name          = The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East (പൗരസ്ത്യ മലങ്കര സത്യ സുറിയാനി സഭ) / Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church <br/>
| name          = Malankara Orthodox  
 
Syrian Church<br/> (Indian Orthodox Church)
| image        = Aramana.jpg
| image        = Devalokam Aramana, Kottayam.jpg  
| imagewidth    = 250px
| imagewidth    = 250px
| alt          = Large, white two-storey building
| alt          = Large, white two-storey building
| caption      = Catholicate Palace in [[Kottayam]], India
| caption      = MOSC Catholicate Palace  
| main_classification = [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Only Remaining Autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Counterpart of the Minority Old Orthodox Syrian Church of the East that Didn't Accept Nestorianism or Any Other Herecy & will Never Accept Nestorianism or Any Other Herecy]]  
| branched_from = [[Saint Thomas Christians]], [[Malankara Church]]
| orientation  = [[Eastern Christianity, Autocephalous Orthodox Syrian Church of the East]]  
| main_classification = [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox]]
| liturgy      = [[Non-Catholic, Non-Antiochian, Pre-Nestorian Eastern Syriac Liturgy of Mar Adaii and Mar Mari upto 1598<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orthodoxwiki.org/Liturgy_of_Addai_and_Mari|title = Liturgy of Addai and Mari - OrthodoxWiki}}</ref>]],
| orientation  = [[Eastern Christianity]]  
[[Liturgy of St. James of Jerusalem from 1665 till now-Greek St. James Liturgy of Jerusalem and its Eastern Syriac Translation from 1665 to 1871 in the absence of Non-Catholic, Non-Antiochian and Pre-Nestorian Eastern Syriac Liturgy of Mar Adaii and Mar Mari burned by Catholic Missionaries, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch's Western Syriac Translation of Greek St. James Liturgy from 1872 due to compulsion from the then Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch<ref>https://stpaulsirvine.org</ref>]]
| liturgy      = [[West Syriac Rite]] ([[Malankara Rite]])
| theology      = [[Miaphysitism]]
| theology      = [[Miaphysitism]]
| polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| polity = [[Episcopal polity|Episcopal]]
| scripture          = [[Peshitta]]
| scripture          = [[Peshitta]]
[[Non-Nestorian Eastern Syriac]]
| governance=Episcopal Synod
| governance=Episcopal Synod
| structure=
| structure=
| leader_title  = Hounouarable Catholicos of the East (കിഴക്കിന്റെ ഒക്കെയും വന്ദ്യ കാതോലിക്ക / പൗരസ്ത്യ കാതോലിക്ക) and Malankara Metropolitan (മലങ്കര മെത്രാപോലീത്ത) also known Malankara Metropolitan (മലങ്കര മെത്രാപ്പോലീത്ത), Patriarch of India (ഭാരത്തിന്റെ പാത്രിയർക്കീസ്), ബാവ (meaning Patriarch / പിതാവ്), Jaathikku Karthavyan (ജാതിക്ക് കർത്തവ്യൻ) / The Gate of All India (ഇന്ത്യയുടെ ഒക്കെയും വാതിൽ അഥവാ ഭാരതത്തിന്റെ ഒക്കെയുടെയും വാതിൽ Residing on the Holy Apostolic See of St. Thomas Apostle - the Disciple of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ who was God the Word Incarnated for us and Our Redemption as as a Human, Native of Nazrath (നമുക്കും നമ്മുടെ രക്ഷക്കും വേണ്ടി നസ്രത്തുകാരനായ മനുഷ്യനായി അവതരിച്ച വചനമായ ദൈവം ആകുന്ന നമ്മുടെ കർത്താവും ദൈവവുമായ മോറാൻ ഈശോ മിശിഹായുടെ ശിഷ്യൻ മാർ തോമ ശ്ലീഹയുടെ ശ്ലൈഹീക സിംഹാസനത്തിൽ ആരൂഡനായിരിക്കുന്ന)
| leader_title  = Primate
| leader_name  = [[Moran Mar Baseliose Mar Thoma Mathews Third]]
| leader_name  = Malankara Metropolitan & Catholicos of East [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]]
| area          = [[India]] and the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Nasrani]] [[Malayali]] diaspora
| area          = [[India]] and the [[Saint Thomas Christians|Nasrani]] [[Malayali]] diaspora
| language      = [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Suriyani Malayalam]], [[Konkani]], [[Malayalam]], [[English language|English]]
| language      = [[Syriac language|Syriac]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Malayalam]], [[English language|English]]
| Current headquarters  = Catholicate Palace (formerly Pazhaya Seminary also known as Orthodox Theological Seminary and before that many prominent Individual Parishes including but not limited to Niranam Pally, Cheriyappally & Parumala Pally [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]  
| headquarters  = Catholicate Palace, [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], [[India]]
<ref>https://www.ots.edu.in</ref>
| founder      = [[Thomas the Apostle]] <br>
| founder      = [[Mar Thoma Shleeha also known as Thomas the Apostle]].
| founded_date  = 1st century by tradition,<ref name=WCC>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement|chapter=Oriental Orthodox Churches|page=756-757|publisher=[[World Council of Churches]]|location=[[Geneva]]|editor1-last=Lossky|editor1-first=Nicholas|editor2-last=Bonino|editor2-first=José Miguez|editor3-last=Pobee|editor3-first=John|date=1991}}</ref><br>[[Malankara Orthodox-Jacobite church dispute|1912]]
 
| independence  = 1912 (Establishment of Catholicate)<ref name=CNEWA>{{cite web|url=https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/oriental-orthodox-churches/the-malankara-orthodox-syrian-church/|title=The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|publisher=[[Catholic Near East Welfare Association]]|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref>
| founded_date  = [[Apostolic age|AD52]] <br>(1st century by tradition-[[Christianity in the 1st century|Apostolic Era]])<ref>http://www.mosc.in</ref>
 
| merger=[[Oriental Orthodox Churches / Orthodox Church of the East|Oriental orthodox Communion]]
| absorbed=
| absorbed=
|separations=1.Syro Malabar Catholic Church in 1663 by Parambil Chandy Kathanar - One Among the Three Kathanars who left the Group of Advisory Council Secretaries that initially consited of four Kathanars, namely Parambil Chandy Kathanar, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar, Vengoor Geevargheese Kathanar and Aanjilimoottil Itty Thomman Kathanar who were Subordinates to Mar Thoma First Metropolitan of the Autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East. Except Aanjilimoottil Itty Thomman Kathanar all others left their Own Church (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East) and Converted to Catholicism for getting more authority. The trio came in Full Communion with the Holy See of the Roman Catholic Latin Church with Parambil Chandy Kathanar being Concecrated as its First Bishop in 1663 having the Latin Title Alexander de Campo by the hands of the Roman Catholic Carmelite Bishop Joseph of S. Maria de Sebestiani who was Concecrated in 1659 as Bishop of Heiropolis in Isauria, took Charge as First Vicar. Apostolic of the Roman Catholic Arch Diocese of Malabar but was Obliged to leave India on the Dutch Conquest of Cochin in 1663. Parambil Chandy Kathanar and Vengoor Geevargheese Kathanar also got more authority in the newly formed Church.
| merged_into=  
2.Church of South India during British Era
 
3. Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church in 1888
 
4. Malabar Independent Syrian Church during Antiochian Overrule
 
5. Syro Malankara Catholic Church in 1930


6. Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in 2002
| separations= [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]] (1930)<ref name=CEC>{{cite book|title=The Catholic Eastern Churches|author=[[Donald Attwater|Attwater, Donald]]|chapter=The Malankarese|publisher=Bruce Publishing Company|location=[[Milwaukee]]|date=1935|edition=1937 revised}}</ref>{{rp|197}}
| merged_into=
| defunct=
| defunct=
| congregations_type=
| congregations_type=
| members            =1 million (approximately)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Baby|last=Varghese|title=Malankara Orthodox Syrian 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/Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-Church |publisher=Gorgias Press|year=2011|author-link=Baby Varghese|access-date=22 September 2016|quote={{color|ivory|''The Malankara Orthodox Church has a membership of about 1 million, 1100 parishes, 1200 priests, and 18 bishops.''}}}}</ref><br>
| members            = <!--1 million<ref name=MOSCGorgias>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Baby|last=Varghese|title=Malankara Orthodox Syrian 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/Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-Church |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]]|year=2011|author-link=Baby Varghese|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref>-->0.5 million in Kerala<ref name="Population_kerala_pdf">{{cite web |url=http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/87/WP468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611195258/http://14.139.171.199:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/87/WP468.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2022-06-11  |id=Working paper 468 |title=Religious denominations of Kerala |first=K.C. |last=Zachariah|date=April 2016 |publisher=Centre for Development Studies (CDS) |place=Kerala}}</ref>
494,000 in [[Kerala]] (2011 Kerala state census)<ref>{{cite book|last= Zachariah |first=K. C. |title=Religious Denominations of Kerala |quote=''{{color|ivory|The most numerous among the Christian denominations in Kerala today are the Syro-Malabar Catholics, numbering about 2,346,000 in 2011. The Latin Catholics, who numbered about 933,000 in 2011, are the second most numerous Christian denominations. The Jacobite Syrian Christian community has a membership of 483,000 and the Orthodox Syrian community has a membership of 494,000}}'' |year=2016 |url=https://ideas.repec.org/p/ess/wpaper/id11506.html|pages= 10, 29}}</ref>
| ministers=
| ministers=
| missionaries=
| missionaries=
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| tax_status=
| tax_status=
| tertiary=
| tertiary=
| other_names  =''' The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East ''' or in short  <br> ''' Malankara Church ''' ''' (പൗരസ്ത്യ മലങ്കര സത്യ സുറിയാനി സഭ) ''' അഥവാ ചുരുക്കി <br> ''' Malankara Church
| other_names  = '''മലങ്കര സഭ'''<br> ('''Malankara Church''')<br>'''Indian Orthodox Church'''<br>
,<br> '''Indian Orthodox Church''', <br> '''Mar Thoma Nazrani Sabha (മാർ തോമ നസ്രാണി സഭ)''',<br> '''Tharisaaykkaar (തരിസായ്ക്കാർ)'''
| website      = [http://www.malankaraorthodoxchurch.in mosc.in]
| website      = [http://www.malankaraorthodoxchurch.in mosc.in]
}}
}}
{{Oriental Orthodox sidebar}}
{{Oriental Orthodox sidebar}}
{{Christianity in India sidebar}}
{{Christianity in India sidebar}}
The '''Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church''' ('''MOSC''')<ref>{{cite book
The '''Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church''' ('''MOSC''')<ref>{{cite book|author=Thomas Arthur Russell|title= Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmMarHDbglgC&pg=PT40| year= 2010| publisher = Universal-Publishers| isbn= 978-1-59942-877-2|page=40|quote=The Malankara Orthodox Church of India(also called by a variety of names, such as the Malankara Church). It is located in Kerala, India.}}</ref> also known as the '''Indian Orthodox Church''' ('''IOC''')<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.neamericandiocese.org/index.aspx|title=Home|publisher=[[Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Northeast America|Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]|access-date=20 June 2022}}</ref> or simply as the '''Malankara Church''',<ref>{{Cite book| author1= John| author2= Anthony McGuckin|title=The Encyclopedia Of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2 Volume Set| date= November 2010|publisher=Wiley-Blackwells| location=West Sussex|isbn=978-1-4443-9254-8|pages=878|quote= The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as '''Indian Orthodox Church''' also '''Malankara Church''', is one of the major and oldest churches in the world.}}</ref> is an [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]]<ref>{{Cite book|author1= Lucian N. Leustean|title= Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945–91
| author   = Thomas Arthur Russell
|year=2010|publisher=Routeledge Taylor & Francis Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0-203-86594-1|pages=317}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author1=Fahlbusch| author2 = Lochman| author3= Mbiti| author4= Pelikan| title= The Encyclopedia Of Christianity, Volume 5 S-Z| date  = November 2010| publisher = Vandenhoeck&Rupercht|location=Gittingen, Germany|isbn= 978-0-8028-2417-2|pages=285|quote=The autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Church is governed by Holy Episcopal Synod of 24 Bishops presided over by His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Didimos Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.}}</ref><ref name=CNEWA/> [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox church]] headquartered in [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church#Catholicate|Devalokam]], near [[Kottayam]], [[India]]. It serves India's [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Christian]] (also known as ''Nasrani'') population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of [[Thomas the Apostle]] in the 1st century (circa 52 AD).<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch">[https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUBZlth2qgC&q=Muziris ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5''] by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2417-2}}.</ref> It employs the [[Malankara Rite]], an Indian form of the [[West Syriac Rite|West Syriac]] [[liturgical rite]].
| title     = Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions
| url       = https://books.google.com/books?id=FmMarHDbglgC&pg=PT40
| year     = 2010
| publisher = Universal-Publishers
| isbn     = 978-1-59942-877-2
| page         = 40
| quote     = The Malankara Orthodox Church of India / The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East(also called by a variety of names, such as the '''Malankara Church'''). It is located in Kerala, India.
}}</ref> also known as the '''Indian Orthodox Church''',<ref>{{Cite book
| author1   = John
| author2   = Anthony McGuckin
| title     = The Encyclopedia Of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2 Volume Set
| date   = November 2010
| publisher = Wiley-Blackwells
| location = West Sussex
| isbn     = 978-1-4443-9254-8
| pages     = 878
| quote     = The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as '''Indian Orthodox Church''', '''The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East''', '''പൗരസ്ത്യ മലങ്കര സത്യ സുറിയാനി സഭ''', '''Malankara Church'''and '''Mar Thoma Nazrani Sabha''', is one of the major and oldest churches in the world. The church is believed to have been founded by the Mar Thoma Shleeha (മാർ തോമ ശ്ലീഹ / മാർ തോമ ചിലിക as in Ancient Tamil - Malayalam) known globally as Apostle St. Thomas in A.D. 52
}}</ref> is an [[Autocephaly|autocephalous]]<ref>{{Cite book
| author1   = Lucian N. Leustean
| title     = Eastern christianity and the cold war, 1945–91
| year     = 2010
| publisher = Routeledge Taylor&Francis Group
| location = New York
| isbn     = 978-0-203-86594-1
| pages     = 317
| quote    = India has two main Orthodox churches, the autocephalous and autonomous Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Indian Orthodox) and autonomous Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church under jurisdiction of Syrian Patriarchate. However, in 1912, there was a split in the community when one part declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Syrian Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 when the Indian Supreme Court declared that only the autocephalous Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan and bishops in communion with him had legal standing. But in 1975, the Syrian Patriarch excommunicated and deposed the Catholicos and appointed a rival, an action that resulted in the community splitting yet again. On 21 January 1995, the Supreme Court of India stated the existence of one orthodox church in India divided into two groups and noticed that spiritual authority of the Syrian Patriarchate reached vanishing point, acknowledging the rights of the autocephalous Church.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| author1   = Fahlbusch| author2   = Lochman| author3   = Mbiti| author4   = Pelikan| title     = The Encyclopedia Of Christianity, Volume 5 S-Z| date  = November 2010| publisher = Vandenhoeck&Rupercht| location = Gittingen, Germany| isbn     = 978-0-8028-2417-2| pages     = 285| quote     = The autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is governed by Holy Episcopal Synod of 24 Bishops presided over by His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Didimos Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.
}}</ref> [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox church]] based in [[Kerala]], [[India]]. The church serves India's [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Christian]] (also known as ''Nasrani'') population. According to tradition, the church originated in the mimissionary activities of [[മാർ തോമ ശ്ലീഹ / Thomas the Apostle]] in the 1st century.<ref name="Erwin Fahlbusch">[https://books.google.com/books?id=lZUBZlth2qgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=isbn:9780802824172&hl=en&sa=X&ei=i5ncVJiVJ4u4uATrlIGoAg&ved=0CB8Q6wEwAA#v=onepage&q=Muziris&f=true ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5''] by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-2417-2}}.</ref>


The autocephalous<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=9&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=hq&pageno=1|title=The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|website=CNEWA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703040252/http://www.cnewa.org/default.aspx?ID=9&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=hq&pageno=1|archive-date=2016-07-03|access-date=2019-10-28|quote=However, in 1912, there was a split in the community when one part declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Syrian Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 when the Indian Supreme Court declared that only the autocephalous Catholicos and bishops in communion with him had legal standing. But in 1975, the Syrian Patriarch excommunicated and deposed the Catholicos and appointed a rival, an action that resulted in the community splitting yet again. In June 1995, the Supreme Court of India rendered a decision that (a) upheld the Constitution of the church that had been adopted in 1934 and made it binding on both factions, (b) stated that there is only one Orthodox church in India, currently divided into two factions, and (c) the autocephalous Catholicos has legal standing as the head of the entire church, and that he is custodian of its parishes and properties. This decision did not, however, result in a reconciliation between the two groups, which in 2007 remained separate and antagonistic.}}</ref> [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]] (currently [[Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews Third]]), is the primate of the church. It employs the [[Malankara Rite]], an Indian form of the Jerusalem [[Liturgy of Saint James|St. James Liturgy.]] It is a member of the [[World Council of Churches]] (WCC). The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church regained full [[autocephaly]] in 1912, and remains in [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] with the other five Oriental Orthodox churches, including the [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch]]{{Dubious|date=July 2021}} and its own autonomous branch the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church Puthankurish (In 2002 by the supporters of Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch who initially Signed Affidavit in Supreme Court of India that they accept the validity of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Constitution of 1934, they will abide by it & that they will participate in Malankara Association of that year which will be held at Parumala in the Presence of Supreme Court Justice Maleemad According to the Verdict of Supreme Court Bench but on the day of Association boycotted it, went to Puthankurish and formed the Society titled Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Puthankurish which was Decalred Illegal Null and Void by Supreme Court of India in its Final Verdict of 3rd July, 2017.), the [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria]], the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] and the [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]]. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church drafted and formally adopted a constitution in 1934, wherein the church formally declared the [[Malankara Metropolitan]] and the Catholicos of the East as one.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/malankara-church-row-all-you-need-to-know-about-century-old-dispute-behind-high-drama-between-jacobite-orthodox-factions-in-kerala-7414211.html|title=Malankara church row: All you need to know about century-old dispute between Jacobite, Orthodox factions in Kerala|publisher=FirstPost|date=27 September 2019|access-date=2020-04-27}}</ref>
The MOSC descends from the [[Malankara Church]] and its affiliation with the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]]. However, between 1909 and 1912, a [[Malankara Orthodox-Jacobite church dispute|schism]] over the authority of the [[Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East|Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]]'s authority resulted in the dissolution of the unified Malankara Church and establishment of the overlapping and conflicting MOSC and [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church]] (JSCC).<ref name=Gorgias>{{cite book|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition|url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians|chapter=Thomas Christians|publisher=[[Gorgias Press]]|author=[[Sebastian Brock|Brock, Sebastian P.]]|date=2018|editor-last=Mardutho|editor-first=Beth|access-date=9 July 2022}}</ref> Since 1912, the MOSC has maintained a [[catholicos|catholicate]], the [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]]–presently [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]]–who is the primate of the church.


The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church holds to [[miaphysitism]],{{sfn|Winkler|1997|p=33-40}}{{sfn|Brock|2016|p=45–52}} which holds that in the one person of [[Jesus Christ]], divinity and humanity are united in one (μία, ''mia'') nature (φύσις – "[[physis]]") without separation, without confusion, without alteration and without mixing<ref>''The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity'' by Ken Parry 2009 {{ISBN|1-4443-3361-5}} page 88 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&pg=PA88&dq=Miaphysitism&hl=en&ei=sVDgTKqDKpDOswbundTyCw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Miaphysitism&f=false]</ref> where Christ is [[Consubstantiality|consubstantial]] with [[God the Father]]. Around 500 bishops within the Patriarchates of [[Alexandria]], [[Antioch]] and [[Jerusalem]] refused to accept the [[dyophysitism]] (two natures) doctrine decreed by the 4th ecumenical council, the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451,{{Dubious|date=July 2021}} an incident that resulted in the first major split in the main body of the Christian Church. While the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected the [[Chalcedonian definition]], the sees later would become the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] accepted this council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07218b.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Henoticon |publisher=Newadvent.org |date=1910-06-01 |access-date=2013-06-30}}</ref>
The MOSC drafted and formally adopted a constitution in 1934, in order to define the relationship it has with the Syriac Orthodox Church and the patriarch, wherein it defined itself a division of the Syriac Orthodox Church with its supreme spiritual leader being the Patriarch of Antioch. However the constitution stipulated that all the spiritual duties of the patriarch in the Malankara Church was entrusted to the Catholicos of the East and reiterated that its administration was the prerogative of the Malankara Metropolitan. The constitution further declared that the positions of the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan are to be held by the same person from then on, who shall henceforth act as the spiritual and administrative head of the church.<ref name=":ConstitutionMOSC">{{Cite book |last=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church |url=http://archive.org/details/moscconstitutionenglish |title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in English}}</ref> The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church asserts [[Communion (Christian)|communion]] with the other Oriental Orthodox churches. However, regular legal and occasional physical confrontations between the MOSC and the Syriac Orthodox JSCC have continued despite multiple efforts to reconcile the churches.<ref name=Gorgias/><ref name=FirstPost>{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/india/malankara-church-row-all-you-need-to-know-about-century-old-dispute-behind-high-drama-between-jacobite-orthodox-factions-in-kerala-7414211.html|title=Malankara church row: All you need to know about century-old dispute between Jacobite, Orthodox factions in Kerala|work=FirstPost|author=FP Staff|date=27 September 2019|access-date=27 April 2020}}</ref><ref name=Dissident>{{cite book|title=The Dissident Eastern Churches|author=[[Donald Attwater|Attwater, Donald]]|location=[[Milwaukee]]|publisher=Bruce Publishing Company|date=1937}}</ref>{{rp|272}}


According to the 2011 Census of [[Kerala]] it was, with a membership of 493,858, the third largest Christian church in the state, coming after the [[Syro-Malabar Church]] (2,346,000) and the [[Latin Church|Latin Catholic Church]] (932,733).<ref>[http://cds.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/WP468.pdf K.C. Zachariah, "Religious Denominations of Kerals" (Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India), Working Paper 468, April 2016, p. 29] (downloaded 5 September 2020)</ref>
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church accepts [[miaphysitism]],{{sfn|Winkler|1997|p=33-40}}{{sfn|Brock|2016|p=45–52}} which holds that in the one person of [[Jesus Christ]], divinity and humanity are united in one (μία, ''mia'') nature (φύσις – "[[physis]]") without separation, without confusion, without alteration and without mixing<ref>''The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity'' by Ken Parry 2009 {{ISBN|1-4443-3361-5}} page 88 [https://books.google.com/books?id=fWp9JA3aBvcC&dq=Miaphysitism&pg=PA88]</ref> where Christ is [[Consubstantiality|consubstantial]] with [[God the Father]]. Around 500 bishops within the Patriarchates of [[Alexandria]], [[Antioch]] and [[Jerusalem]] refused to accept the [[dyophysitism]] (two natures) doctrine decreed by the 4th ecumenical council, the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451,{{Dubious|date=July 2021}} an incident that resulted in the second major split in the main body of the Christian Church (after the [[Nestorian schism]]). While the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected the [[Chalcedonian definition]], the sees that would later become the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] accepted this council.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07218b.htm |title=Catholic Encyclopedia: Henoticon |publisher=Newadvent.org |date=1910-06-01 |access-date=2013-06-30}}</ref>
 
Self-reporting roughly 2.5 million members (with external estimates of roughly 1 million)<ref name=MOSCGorgias>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Baby|last=Varghese|title=Malankara Orthodox Syrian 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/Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-Church |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]]|year=2011|author-link=Baby Varghese|access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> across 30 [[diocese]]s worldwide, a significant proportion of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's adherents reside in the southern India state of [[Kerala]] with the diaspora communities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.<ref name=MOSCPOP>{{cite web|url=https://mosc.in/the_church/the-malankara-orthodox-syrian-church|title=The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|access-date=31 May 2022|publisher=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church}}</ref>


==History==
==History==
===Early history===
===Early history===
{{See also|Saint Thomas Christian denominations|Malankara–Persia relations}} The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of the East known shortly as Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by Apostle Saint Thomas and belongs to the Category Orthodox Syrian Church of the East According to Clause 2 of Malankara Church Constitution of 1934. Even though the church was independent in administration, It had relationships between Churches of Antioch,Persia and Alexandria.{{Dubious|date=July 2021}}<ref name="newadvent.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm#X|title=St. Thomas Christians|website=[[New Advent]]|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125064004/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm|archive-date=25 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}They received clerical support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships on the [[spice route]]. During the 16th century, efforts by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] [[Padroado]] to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into [[Latin liturgical rites|Latin-rite]] Catholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community. The Saint Thomas Christians are currently divided into several groups.
{{See also|Saint Thomas Christian denominations|Malankara–Persia relations}}
[[File:Branches & Denominations of Saint Thomas Christians.svg|thumb|420x420px|Chronological diagram of Saint Thomas Christian denominations]]
According to tradition, Christianity first arrived in India with [[Thomas the Apostle]] during the 1st century AD, evolving into [[Saint Thomas Christians|Saint Thomas Christianity]] over several centuries.<ref>{{cite journal|author= Baby Varghese|title= Renewal in the Malankara Orthodox Church, India|journal= Studies in World Christianity|volume= 16|issue= 3|year= 2010|publisher= [[Edinburgh University Press]]|pages= 226–244|doi= 10.3366/swc.2010.0102|issn= 1354-9901}}</ref> While isolated and generally independent in administration, Indian Christians maintained contact with the Christian hierarchies of [[Antioch]], Persia, and potentially Alexandria.<ref name="newadvent.org">{{cite book|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm#X|chapter=St. Thomas Christians|title=Catholic Encyclopedia|via=[[New Advent]]|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125064004/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm|archive-date=25 January 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians| title=Thomas Christians| website=eGEDSH| last1=Brock| first1=Sebastian P.}}</ref> The Saint Thomas Christians had relationships with the Persian [[Church of the East]] from at least the 6th century onward. The Indians inherited its [[East Syriac dialect]] for liturgical use and gradually became Syriac Christians in ritual and doctrine. They received clerical support from Persian bishops, who traveled to [[Kerala]] in merchant ships on the [[spice route]].{{sfnm|Frykenberg|2008|1p=93|Wilmshurst|2000|2p=343}} For much of this period, Saint Thomas Christians were under the leadership of an [[archdeacon]] (a native ecclesiastical head with temporal powers, deriving from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''arkhidiākonos'').


They were under the leadership of a Jathikku Karthavyan / ജാതിക്ക് കർത്തവ്യൻ who was called by Persians as Arkkadiyaakkon / അർക്കദിയാക്കോൻ (a native ecclesiastical head with temporal powers, deriving from the Greek word'arkhidiākonos')<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2017/05/21/%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%99%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B0_%E0%B4%93%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%A1%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D_%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%BF__%E0%B4%B8%E0%B4%AD%E0%B4%AF%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%9F%E0%B5%86_%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AE%E0%B5%83%E0%B4%A4%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%B3%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D_/ml-1313814|title=മലങ്കര ഓര്‍ത്തഡോക്സ് സുറിയാനി സഭയുടെ ചരിത്രസ്മൃതികള്‍}}</ref>. The Saint Thomas Christians were in communion with the [[Church of the East]], centered in [[Persia]].<ref name="Frykenberg93">Frykenberg, p. 93.</ref><ref>Wilmshurst, ''EO'', 343</ref> The [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] Church of Malabar (Malankara) followed the faith and traditions of [[Thomas the Apostle]]. Portuguese [[Jesuits]] attempted to annex the native Christians to the [[Latin Church]] at the 1599 [[Synod of Diamper]]. The Saint Thomas Christians, who were opposed to the [[Portuguese Padroado]] missionaries, took the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] on 3 January 1653.{{sfn|Brown|1956|p=100}}{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=115-116}}{{sfn|Neill|2004|p=316}} The [[Dutch East India Company]] defeated the Portuguese for control of the Malabar spice trade in 1663. Patriarch Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of Jerusalem witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop [[Thoma I]], who brought the Greek Liturgy of St. James which later laid the foundation for adopting Western Syriac translation of St. James Liturgy and in 1876 in the absence of the Original Non-Catholic, Non-Antiochian and Pre-Nestorian Eastern Syriac Liturgy of Mar Adaai and Mar Mari (received from the East Syrian Church of Fars in Iran in A.D. 231 but was burned by the envious Catholic Missionaries) over the next two centuries due to the compulsion of Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch who arrived in Malankara in 1876.
During the 16th century, efforts by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] ''[[Padroado]]''–an arm of the [[Catholic Church]]–to bring the Saint Thomas Christians under the administration of the [[Latin Church]] and attempts to [[Liturgical Latinisation|Latinize]] the [[Malankara Rite]] led to the first of several rifts in the community. These divisions intensified following the 1599 [[Synod of Diamper]]. Saint Thomas Christians who were opposed to the [[Portuguese Padroado]] missionaries took the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] on 3 January 1653.{{sfn|Brown|1956|p=100}}{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=115-116}}{{sfn|Neill|2004|p=316}} The [[Dutch East India Company]] expulsion of the Portuguese from much of Malabar enabled the reconciliation of some Saint Thomas Christians and the Catholic Church, with this group eventually evolving into the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]], an [[Eastern Catholic]] church that adopted the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]'s [[East Syriac Rite]] and [[Dyophysite Christology|Diophysite christology]].
[[File:SaintThomasChristian'sDivisionsHistoryFinal-en.svg|alt=Schematic timeline|left|thumb|690x690px|Timeline of schisms in Malankara]]
 
===Malankara Church===
The Saint Thomas Christians had their own liturgies as practices which were a mixture of Dravidian and Jewish in nature. Since the end of 15th century, the Indian church had  relationships with the [[Church of the East|Persian (East Syriac) church]]. The Indians inherited its [[East Syriac dialect]] for liturgical use, and gradually became known as Syriac Christians. During the sixteenth century, Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to latinise the Syrian Christians. Those who adopted Catholic Version of the Original [[East Syriac Rite]] and [[Dyophysite Christology|Diophysite christology]] constitute the present-day [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church|Syro-Malabar Church]] and [[Chaldean Syrian Church]]. Those who stood with the indigenous leader of Malankara, Marthoma I and later adopted [[Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch's Western Syriac Translation of Greek St. James Liturgy of Syriac Orthodox Church of Jerusalem in the last half of 19th Century which again got translated later to Malayalam, other Indian Languages and Ancient Classical Eastern Aramaic]], Alexandrian practices and [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysite]] faith in 1876 evolved as the Malankara Puthenkoor Independent Orthodox East Syrian Church, known at the time of Britishers as just Malankara Church and known from the time of Mavelikkara Synod as Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church onwards. The Autocephalous Catholicate of Iran of those who left the Ancient Seleucian Church of the East and became a Separate Autocephalous Orthodox Syrian Church of the East (at the time of Nestorianism in Church of the East) got re-located to and thereby revived in Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church belonging to the same family that is Orthodox Syrian Church of the East.<ref>https://archive.org/details/1934constitutionsecondedition/mode/1up</ref/>
{{main|Malankara Church}}
<ref>https ://www.mosc.in</ref/>
Many Saint Thomas Christian chose to remain independent from the Catholic Church. Patriarch Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, the [[Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem]], witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop [[Thoma I]], who forged a renewed relationship with the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] of Antioch and Saint Thomas Christians, which laid the foundation for adopting [[West Syriac Rite|West Syrian liturgy]] and practices over the next two centuries. Those who supported the indigenous church leader of Malankara, Thoma I, and adopted [[West Syriac Rite|West Syrian]] liturgies and practices and [[Miaphysitism|Miaphysite]] faith evolved into the [[Malankara Church]].{{sfnm|Vadakkekara|2007|1pp=84, 86|Frykenberg|2008|2p=361}}<ref>"Synod of Diamper." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 23 December 2011.</ref><ref>For the Acts and Decrees of the Synod cf. Michael Geddes, "A Short History of the Church of Malabar Together with the Synod of Diamper &c." London, 1694;Repr. in George Menachery, Ed., Indian Church History Classics, Vol.1, Ollur 1998, pp.33-112</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">Thekkedath, History of Christianity in India"</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, "Eastern Christianity in India"</ref>


===19th century===
===19th century===
The Arthat Padiyola declared that the administration of Malankara Church is Independent and the bishops from Rome, Antioch or Babylon has no role in Malankara Church.
The Arthat Padiyola declared that the administration of Malankara Church was independent and the bishops from Rome, Antioch, and Babylon had no role in the Malankara Church hierarchy, despite continued efforts to integrate the remaining independent Saint Thomas Christians into these patriarchates. In 1807, four gospels of Holy Bible in Syriac were translated to Malayalam by Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban. The Malankara Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam was established in 1815 under the leadership of Pulikottil Ittup Ramban (Mar Dionysius II). The Mavelikara Synod (Padiyola) led by Cheppad Mar Dionysius rejected the suggestions put forward by Anglican missioneries and Reformation group and declared the beliefs and theology of Malankara Church were same as the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch.{{cn|date=July 2022}}
In 1807, four gospels of Holy Bible in Syriac were translated to Malayalam by Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban.
The Malankara Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam was established in 1815 under the leadership of Pulikottil Ittup Ramban (Mar Dionysius II).  
The Mavelikara Synod (Padiyola) lead by Cheppad Mar Dionysius rejected the suggestions put forward by Anglican Missioneries and Reformation group and declared the beliefs and theology of Malankara Church is same as the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch.


===20th century===
===20th century===
[[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril]], who became the Malankara metropolitan bishop in 1908, played a significant role with the other clerical and lay leaders of Malankara in re-establishing{{Dubious|date=July 2021}} the [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan|Catholicos of the East]] in India in 1912. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its [[autocephaly]], and appealed to [[List of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch|Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]] [[Ignatius Abdul Masih II]]. He ordained Murimattathil Paulose Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, [[Catholicos of the East]], on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas at St. Mary's Church in [[Niranam]] on 15 September 1912.<ref>{{cite web
[[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril]], who became the Malankara metropolitan bishop in 1908, played a significant role with the other clerical and lay leaders of Malankara in re-establishing the [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan|Catholicos of the East]] in India in 1912. In 1909 the relations with the Syrian Orthodox Church soured, when Patriarch [[Ignatius Abded Aloho II]] who arrived in India, began demanding registered deeds granting the patriarch temporal authority over the church. Dionysius rejected the request and thus emerged two factions in the church. The faction that supported the Patriarch came to be called as "Bava Kakshi" (Patriarch Faction) and the faction that supported the Malankara Metropolitan came to be known as "Methran Kakshi" (Metropolitan Faction).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/feud-began-19th-century-what-happened-jacobite-orthodox-locked-horns-96295 | title=A feud that began in 19th century: What happened before Jacobite-Orthodox locked horns | date=6 February 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/1599-today-tracing-kerala-s-jacobite-vs-orthodox-church-battle-66476 | title=From 1599 to today: Tracing Kerala's Jacobite vs Orthodox church battle | date=8 August 2017 }}</ref> The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its [[autocephaly]], and appealed to [[List of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch|Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]] [[Ignatius Abdul Masih II]]. He enthroned Murimattathil Paulose Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, [[Catholicos of the East]], on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas at St. Mary's Church in [[Niranam]] on 15 September 1912.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://niranamchurch.com/|title= About the church|year = 2009|publisher= Niranam St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church|access-date=25 April 2010|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100127171538/http://niranamchurch.com/|archive-date= 27 January 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|url         = http://niranamchurch.com/
 
|title       = About the church
In 1934, The Malankara Church adopted a constitution for smooth functioning of the church, parishes and institution. In 1947, Saint Gregorios of Parumala was declared as a saint by the Church. In 1952 the Official Residence of the Malankara Metropolitan and the Headquarters of Malankara Church was shifted to Devalokam from Pazhaya Seminary. In 1958, The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Geevarghese II as the legitimate Malankara Metropolitan. The two factions of the Malankara Orthodox Church rejoined. In 1964, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch participated in the enthronement ceremony of the Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan, Baselios Augen I. In 1995, the Supreme Court of India declared the MOSC constitution adopted in 1934 was valid.{{cn|date=July 2022}}
|year         = 2009
|publisher   = Niranam St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church
|access-date   = 25 April 2010
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100127171538/http://niranamchurch.com/
|archive-date = 27 January 2010
|url-status   = dead
}}</ref>
In 1934, The Malankara Church adopted a constitution for smooth functioning of the church, parishes and institution.
In 1947, Saint Gregorios of Parumala was declared as a saint by the Church.
In 1952 the Official Residence of the Malankara Metropolitan and the Head Quarters of Malankara Church was shifted to Devalokam from Pazhaya Seminary.  
In 1958, The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Geevarghese II as the legitimate Malankara Metropolitan. The two factions of the Malankara Orthodox Church rejoined.
In 1964, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch participated in the enthronement ceremony of the Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan, Baselios Augen I.
In 1990, celebrated the 175th anniversary of Malankara Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam.
In 1995, The Hounrble Supreme Court of India declared the Constitution of the Malankara Church adopted in 1934 was valid.


=== 21st century ===
=== 21st century ===
In 2002, fresh elections were conducted in Malankara Association under the observation of Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Mathews II is the official and legitimate Malankara Metropolitan and also declared that this decision cannot be disputed in any platform.
In 2002, fresh elections were conducted in Malankara Association under the observation of Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court declared Catholicos [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews II]] is the official and legitimate Malankara Metropolitan and also declared that this decision cannot be disputed in any platform. In 2003, Vattasheril [[Dionysius VI]] was declared as a saint. In 2012, the centennial of the establishment of the church and Catholicate were celebrated with history classes and church publications.<ref name=TOICentennial>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/Centenary-celebrations-of-Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-Church-begin/articleshow/10591803.cms|title = Centenary celebrations of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church begin &#124; Kochi News - Times of India|website = [[The Times of India]]| date=3 November 2011 }}</ref> On 3 July 2017, a major verdict by the Supreme Court of India declared the MOSC legally applicable to all parishes in disputed possession between the MOSC and [[Jacobite Syrian Christian Church]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://scroll.in/article/858273/a-century-old-church-dispute-in-kerala-flares-up-again-as-supreme-court-rejects-plea-on-leadership| website=scroll.in| title=Kerala church split}}</ref>
In 2003, Vattasheril Dionysius VI was declared as a Saint.
In 2012, the 1960th anniversary of establishment of Malankara Orthodox Church (AD 52) and  centenary of the establishment of the Catholicate in Malankara Church was celebrated. The chief guests of the function were [[A. P. J. Abdul Kalam|Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam]] and [[Dalai Lama]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.timesofindia.com/city/kochi/Centenary-celebrations-of-Malankara-Orthodox-Syrian-Church-begin/articleshow/10591803.cms|title = Centenary celebrations of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church begin &#124; Kochi News - Times of India}}</ref>
On 2015, celebrated 200th anniversary of Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam.
On 3 July 2017, a major verdict by the Supreme court of India declared the Constitution of the Malankara Church as legal  and valid and applicable to all the parishes under the control of both the factions.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
{{clear}}
{{clear}}


==Hierarchy, distribution and doctrine==
==Hierarchy and doctrine==
The spiritual head of the church is the Catholicos of the East, and its temporal head is the [[Malankara Metropolitan]]. Since 1934, both titles have been vested in one person; the official title of the head of the church is "The Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of Saint Thomas and The Malankara Metropolitan". Baselios Marthoma Paulose II was enthroned as the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicos of the Malankara Church on 1 November 2010 at [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]]. He is <!--91st Catholicos of the East{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} in the lineage of Thomas the Apostle,--> the eighth [[Catholicose of the East]] in Malankara and the 21st [[Malankara Metropolitan]].
[[File:Malankara Metropolitan Mathews III.jpg|thumb|411x411px|[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]] Present Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan]]
The spiritual head of the church is the Catholicos of the East, and its temporal head is the [[Malankara Metropolitan]]. Since 1934, both titles have been vested in one person; the official title of the head of the church is "The Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of Saint Thomas and The Malankara Metropolitan". Baselios Marthoma Mathews III was enthroned as the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicos of the East. He is <!--91st Catholicos of the East{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}} in the lineage of Thomas the Apostle,--> the eighth [[Catholicose of the East]] in Malankara and the 21st [[Malankara Metropolitan]].


[[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], including the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, accept only the first three [[ecumenical council]]s: the [[First Council of Nicaea]], the [[First Council of Constantinople]], and the [[Council of Ephesus]]. The church, like all other Oriental Orthodox Churches, uses the original [[Nicene Creed]]<ref>[http://mosc.in/the_church/the-ecumenical-council-of-nicea-and-nicene-creed Geevarghese Mar Yulios : Ecumenical Council of Nicea and Nicene Creed]</ref> without the [[filioque clause]].<ref>[http://mosc.in/the_church/oriental-and-eastern-orthodox-churches Paulos Mar Gregorios: Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches]</ref> Like the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], it primarily uses the [[liturgy of Saint James]] in [[Malayalam]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Kannada]], [[Hindi]], [[English language|English]] and other Indian languages.
[[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], including the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, accept only the first three [[ecumenical council]]s: the [[First Council of Nicaea]], the [[First Council of Constantinople]], and the [[Council of Ephesus]]. The church, like all other Oriental Orthodox Churches, uses the original [[Nicene Creed]]<ref>[http://mosc.in/the_church/the-ecumenical-council-of-nicea-and-nicene-creed Geevarghese Mar Yulios : Ecumenical Council of Nicea and Nicene Creed]</ref> without the [[filioque clause]].<ref>[http://mosc.in/the_church/oriental-and-eastern-orthodox-churches Paulos Mar Gregorios: Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches]</ref> Like the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]], it primarily uses the [[liturgy of Saint James]] in [[Malayalam]], [[Konkani language|Konkani]], [[Kannada]], [[Hindi]], [[English language|English]] and other Indian languages.


==Liturgy and canonical hours==
=== Liturgy and canonical hours ===
[[File:Holy Mass Celebration in Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.jpg|alt=Eucharist celebration|thumb|left|Eucharist celebration of the church.]]
[[File:Holy Mass Celebration in Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.jpg|alt=Eucharist celebration|thumb|left|Eucharist celebration of the church.]]


The church has used the [[Malankara Rite]], part of the [[Antiochene Rite]], since the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indianorthodoxireland.ie/catholicate/liturgy/|title=Liturgy Holy Qurbana St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church|date=2016-05-13|website=indianorthodoxireland.ie|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref> The [[Jacobite Church]] and the [[Maronite Church]] also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half of the fifth century, the Antiochene church adopted the [[Liturgy of Saint James]]. In the 4th and 5th centuries, The liturgical language of fourth- and fifth-century Jerusalem and Antioch was Greek, and the original liturgy was composed in Greek.
The church has used the [[Malankara Rite]], part of the [[Antiochene Rite]], since the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indianorthodoxireland.ie/catholicate/liturgy/|title=Liturgy Holy Qurbana St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church|date=2016-05-13|website=indianorthodoxireland.ie|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref> The [[Jacobite Church]] and the [[Maronite Church]] also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half of the fifth century, the Antiochene church adopted the [[Liturgy of Saint James]]. In the 4th and 5th centuries, The liturgical language of fourth- and fifth-century Jerusalem and Antioch was Greek, and the original liturgy was composed in Greek.


After the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, the [[Eastern Church]] was divided in two; one group accepted the council, and the other opposed it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of the Saint James liturgy. The [[Justin I|Byzantine emperor Justin]] (518–527) expelled the opponents from Antioch, and they took refugees in the Syriac-speaking [[Mesopotamia]] on the Roman–Persian border (modern eastern Syria, Iraq, and southeastern Turkey). The Antiochene liturgical rites were gradually translated into Syriac, and [[Syriac sacral music|Syriac hymns]] were introduced.
After the [[Council of Chalcedon]] in 451, the [[Eastern Church]] was divided in two; one group accepted the council, and the other opposed it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of the Saint James liturgy. The [[Justin I|Byzantine emperor Justin]] (518–527) expelled the opponents from Antioch, and they took refuge in the Syriac-speaking [[Mesopotamia]] on the Roman–Persian border (modern eastern Syria, [[Iraq]], and southeastern Turkey). The Antiochene liturgical rites were gradually translated into Syriac, and [[Syriac sacral music|Syriac hymns]] were introduced.


Gregorios Abdal Jaleel came to Malankara from Jerusalem in 1665 and introduced Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites. The most striking characteristic of the Antiochene liturgy is its large number of [[Anaphora (liturgy)|anaphoras]] (celebrations of the [[Eucharist]]). About eighty are known, and about a dozen are used in India. All have been composed following the Liturgy of Saint James.<ref>{{cite web
Gregorios Abdal Jaleel came to Malankara from Jerusalem in 1665 and introduced Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites. The most striking characteristic of the Antiochene liturgy is its large number of [[Anaphora (liturgy)|anaphoras]] (celebrations of the [[Eucharist]]). About eighty are known, and about a dozen are used in India. All have been composed following the Liturgy of Saint James.<ref>{{cite web
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Christians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray the [[canonical hours]] of the [[Shehimo]] at [[fixed prayer times]] seven times a day.<ref name="Kurian2020">{{cite web |last1=Kurian |first1=Jake |title="Seven Times a Day I Praise You" – The Shehimo Prayers |url=http://www.ds-wa.org/seven-times-a-day-i-praise-you-the-sheema-prayers.html |publisher=[[Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Southwest America|Diocese of South-West America of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]|access-date=2 August 2020}}</ref>
Christians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray the [[canonical hours]] of the [[Shehimo]] at [[fixed prayer times]] seven times a day.<ref name="Kurian2020">{{cite web |last1=Kurian |first1=Jake |title="Seven Times a Day I Praise You" – The Shehimo Prayers |url=http://www.ds-wa.org/seven-times-a-day-i-praise-you-the-sheema-prayers.html |publisher=[[Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Southwest America|Diocese of South-West America of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]|access-date=2 August 2020}}</ref>


==Saints==
The [[Liturgy of Addai and Mari|liturgy of Mor Addai]] is still in use, in anaphora form, similar to the Maronite Sharar. The [[Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom|anaphora of St. John Chrysostom]] is sometimes used.
 
=== Saints ===
{{Nasrani people}}
{{Nasrani people}}
In conformity with other [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches]], the Malankara church adheres to the tradition of seeking the intercession of [[saint]]s. Several have been [[Canonization|canonized]]:  
In conformity with other [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern]] and [[Oriental Orthodox Churches|Oriental Orthodox churches]], and also with the [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic Church]], the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church adheres to the tradition of seeking the [[intercession of saints]]. Several have been [[Canonization|canonized]]:  
* [[Geevarghese Gregorios of Parumala]]: Entombed in [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]], and canonized by Geevarghese II in 1947
* [[Geevarghese Gregorios of Parumala]]: Entombed in [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]], and canonized by Geevarghese II in 1947
* [[Baselios Yeldo]]: Entombed in [[St. Thomas Church, Kothamangalam]], and canonised by Geevarghese II in 1947
* [[Baselios Yeldo]]: Entombed in [[St. Thomas Church, Kothamangalam]], and canonised by Geevarghese II in 1947
* [[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril]]: Entombed in the [[Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam]], and canonized by Mathews II in 2003
* [[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril]]: Entombed in the [[Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam]], and canonized by Mathews II in 2003
* [[Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares]]: Entombed in St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Ribandar, and declared a regional saint by Paulose II in 2015. (Not officially canonized a saint) <ref>{{cite book |last1= Philip|first1= Dr. Ajesh T.|last2=Alexander| first2=George| date= May 2018|series =Western Rites of Syriac-Malankara Orthodox Churches | volume = I|title= The Mission Untold|location= India|publisher= OCP Publications, Alappuzha| pages = 17|isbn= 978-1-387-80316-3}}</ref>
* [[Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares]]: Entombed in St. Mary's Orthodox Church, Ribandar, and declared a regional saint by Paulose II in 2015. (Not officially canonized a saint)<ref>{{cite book |last1= Philip|first1= Dr. Ajesh T.|last2=Alexander| first2=George| date= May 2018|series =Western Rites of Syriac-Malankara Orthodox Churches | volume = I|title= The Mission Untold|location= India|publisher= OCP Publications, Alappuzha| pages = 17|isbn= 978-1-387-80316-3}}</ref>
* [[Fr. Roque Zephrin Noronah]]: Entombed in St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Brahmavar, and declared a regional saint by Paulose II in 2015 (Not officially canonized a saint) <ref>{{cite book |last1= Philip|first1= Dr. Ajesh T.|last2=Alexander| first2=George| date= May 2018|series =Western Rites of Syriac-Malankara Orthodox Churches | volume = I|title= The Mission Untold|location= India|publisher= OCP Publications, Alappuzha| pages = 83|isbn= 978-1-387-80316-3}}</ref>
* [[Fr. Roque Zephrin Noronah]]: Entombed in St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Brahmavar, and declared a regional saint by Paulose II in 2015 (Not officially canonized a saint)<ref>{{cite book |last1= Philip|first1= Dr. Ajesh T.|last2=Alexander| first2=George| date= May 2018|series =Western Rites of Syriac-Malankara Orthodox Churches | volume = I|title= The Mission Untold|location= India|publisher= OCP Publications, Alappuzha| pages = 83|isbn= 978-1-387-80316-3}}</ref>


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==Malankara Metropolitan==
=== Metropolitan ===
The temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the church is vested in the [[Malankara Metropolitan]], subject to the church constitution<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ovsonline.in/1934-constitution-malankara-orthodox-church/|title =1934 constitution of The Malankara Church (മലങ്കരസഭ ഭരണഘടന) }}</ref> which was adopted in 1934. The [[Malankara Metropolitan]] is president of the '''Malankara Syrian Christian Association (Malankara Association)''' and its managing committee, and trustee of community properties. He is the custodian of the Pazhaya Seminary and other common properties of Malankara Syrian Community. He is also the custodian of vattipanam interest which was deposited in Travancore Government by Marthoma VII. He is elected by the Malankara association.
The temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the church is vested in the [[Malankara Metropolitan]], subject to the church constitution which was adopted in 1934.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ovsonline.in/1934-constitution-malankara-orthodox-church/|title=1934 constitution of The Malankara Church (മലങ്കരസഭ ഭരണഘടന)|access-date=29 February 2020|archive-date=2 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502165529/http://www.ovsonline.in/1934-constitution-malankara-orthodox-church/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Malankara Metropolitan is president of the Malankara Syrian Christian Association (Malankara Association) and its managing committee, and trustee of community properties. He is the custodian of the Pazhaya Seminary and other common properties of Malankara Syrian Community. He is also the custodian of vattipanam interest which was deposited in Travancore Government by Marthoma VII. He is elected by the Malankara association.


===List of Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church===
==== List of Malankara metropolitans ====
#[[Thoma I]] (1653–1670)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://koonankurishu.net/koonan-kurishu-old-syrian-church/koonan-kurishu-sathyam/amp/|title=Coonan Cross Oath History}}</ref>
#[[Thoma I]] (1653–1670)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://koonankurishu.net/koonan-kurishu-old-syrian-church/koonan-kurishu-sathyam/amp/|title=Coonan Cross Oath History|access-date=29 February 2020|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224140528/http://koonankurishu.net/koonan-kurishu-old-syrian-church/koonan-kurishu-sathyam/amp/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
#[[Thoma II]] (1670–1686)
#[[Thoma II]] (1670–1686)
#[[Thoma III]] (1686–1688)
#[[Thoma III]] (1686–1688)
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#[[Dionysious V|Dionysius V]] (1865–1909)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1883692/ |title= Royal Court Verdict declared Pulikottil Joseph Dionysius as the rightful Malankara Metropolitan}}</ref>
#[[Dionysious V|Dionysius V]] (1865–1909)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/1883692/ |title= Royal Court Verdict declared Pulikottil Joseph Dionysius as the rightful Malankara Metropolitan}}</ref>
#[[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril|Dionysius VI]] (1909–1934)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/107194354/?type=print/|title= In 1929, Travancore High Court declared Dionysius of Vattasseril will remain as the Malankara Metropolitan (Vattipanam Suit) }}</ref>
#[[Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril|Dionysius VI]] (1909–1934)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/107194354/?type=print/|title= In 1929, Travancore High Court declared Dionysius of Vattasseril will remain as the Malankara Metropolitan (Vattipanam Suit) }}</ref>
#[[Geevarghese II]] (1934–1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/107194354/?type=print/|title=In 1958, Supreme Court of India declared Baselios Geevarghese II is the rightful Malankara Metropolitan (Samudayam Suit)}}</ref> ''From 1934 Malankara Metropolitan also holds the office of [[Catholicos of the East]] of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.''
#[[Baselios Geevarghese II|Geevarghese II]] (1934–1964)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/107194354/?type=print/|title=In 1958, Supreme Court of India declared Baselios Geevarghese II is the rightful Malankara Metropolitan (Samudayam Suit)}}</ref> ''From 1934 Malankara Metropolitan also holds the office of [[Catholicos of the East]] of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.''
#[[Augen I]] (1964–1975), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Baselios Augen I|Augen I]] (1964–1975), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Mathews I]] (1975–1991), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews I|Mathews I]] (1975–1991), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Mathews II]] (1991–2005),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://malankaraorthodox.tv/?p=60636|title= Supreme Court Order July 12, 2002 declared Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II is the unquestionable Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church}}</ref> also Catholicos of the East
#[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews II|Mathews II]] (1991–2005),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://malankaraorthodox.tv/?p=60636|title= Supreme Court Order July 12, 2002 declared Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II is the unquestionable Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church}}</ref> also Catholicos of the East
#[[Didymos I]] (2005–2010), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Baselios Marthoma Didymos I|Didymos I]] (2005–2010), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Paulose II (Indian Orthodox Church)|Paulose II]] (2010–2021),<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/supreme-head-of-the-malankara-orthodox-syrian-church-passes-away/article35273281.ece/amp/ |title=Supreme head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church passes away|newspaper=The Hindu|date=12 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/new-catholicos-of-the-east-baselios-marthoma-paulose-ii-installed-phot-report/|title=Ordination of the new Malankara Metropolitan & Catholicos. H.H Moran Baselios Marthoma Paulose 2 is the present Malankara Metropolitan.Baselios Marthoma Paulose 2 is the 21st Malankara Metropolitan.|date=November 2010}}</ref> also Catholicos of the East
#[[Paulose II (Indian Orthodox Church)|Paulose II]] (2010–2021), also Catholicos of the East
#[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III|Mathews III]] (15 October 2021 – present), also Catholicos of the East<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/supreme-head-of-the-malankara-orthodox-syrian-church-passes-away/article35273281.ece/amp/ |title=Supreme head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church passes away|newspaper=The Hindu|date=12 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://theorthodoxchurch.info/blog/news/new-catholicos-of-the-east-baselios-marthoma-paulose-ii-installed-phot-report/|title=Ordination of the new Malankara Metropolitan & Catholicos. H.H Moran Baselios Marthoma Paulose 2 is the present Malankara Metropolitan.Baselios Marthoma Paulose 2 is the 21st Malankara Metropolitan.|date=November 2010}}</ref>


==Catholicate==
=== Catholicate ===
"Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mosc.in/catholicate|title=The Catholicate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|website=Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church|access-date=12 March 2020}}</ref> The early church had three priestly ranks: ''episcopos'' (bishop), priest and deacon. By the end of the third century, bishops of important cities in the [[Roman Empire]] became known as metropolitans. The fourth-century ecumenical councils recognized the authority of the metropolitan. By the fifth century, the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control of the churches in surrounding cities.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}They gradually became the heads of the regional churches, and were known as patriarchs (common father). Outside the Roman Empire, patriarchs were known as catholicos.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} There were four catholicates before the fifth century: the Catholicate of the East, the Catholicate of Armenia, the Catholicate of Georgia and the Catholicate of Albania.{{Dubious|date=January 2021}} In Orthodox tradition, any apostolic and autonomous national church (often referred to as a local church) may call its head a catholicos, pope or patriarch.{{Dubious|date=January 2021}} The archdeacons reigned from the fourth to the 16th centuries; in 1653, the archdeacon was elevated to bishop by the community as Thoma&nbsp;I.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}
"Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop."<ref name="Catholicate">{{cite web|url=http://mosc.in/catholicate|title=The Catholicate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|website=Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church|access-date=12 March 2020}}</ref> The early church had three priestly ranks: ''episcopos'' (bishop), priest and deacon. By the end of the third century, bishops of important cities in the [[Roman Empire]] became known as metropolitans. The fourth-century ecumenical councils recognized the authority of the metropolitan. By the fifth century, the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control of the churches in surrounding cities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Catholicate of the Malankara orthodox Syrian Church {{!}} |url=https://mosc.in/catholicate/catholicate/ |access-date=2024-01-14 |website=mosc.in}}</ref> They gradually became the heads of the regional churches, and were known as patriarchs (common father).  


The Catholicate of the East was relocated to India in 1912, and [[Baselios Paulose I]] was seated on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas as the Catholicos of the East.{{Who|date=January 2021}}{{Peacock term|date=July 2021}} The headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholicos of the East is the Catholicate Palace at Devalokam, [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], which was consecrated on 31 December 1951. The new palace, built in 1961, was dedicated by visiting Armenian Catholicos [[Vazgen I]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com/index.php?/our-church/catholicos-of-the-east.html|title=Catholicos of the East {{!}} our-church|website=stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com|access-date=2019-11-06}}</ref>
Outside the Roman Empire, patriarchs were known as catholicos. There were four catholicates before the fifth century: the Catholicate of the East, the Catholicate of Armenia, the Catholicate of Georgia and the Catholicate of Albania. The archdeacons reigned from the fourth to the 16th centuries; in 1653, the archdeacon was elevated to bishop by the community as Mar Thoma I.
[[Relic]]s of St. Thomas are kept in the catholicate chapel, and Geevarghese II, Augen I and Mathews I are interred there.


[[File:His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II.jpg|upright=1.0|240px|thumb|alt=Photo of Baselius Marthoma Paulose II|Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan [[Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II]].]]
The Catholicate of the East was relocated to India in 1912, and [[Baselios Paulose I]] was seated on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas as the Catholicos of the East by the disposed Patriarch of Antioch Abdul Masih. The headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholicos of the East is the Catholicate Palace at Devalokam, [[Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], which was consecrated on 31 December 1951. The new palace, built in 1961, was dedicated by visiting Armenian Catholicos [[Vazgen I]].


=== List of Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ===
The Holy Synod and Managing committee designated H.G.Dr. Mathews Mor Severios to the new Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicos of Malankara Church succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II. He was consecrated as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan during the Malankara Association that took place on 14 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala and enthroned as the 9th Catholicos of Malankara Church on 15 October 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com/index.php?/our-church/catholicos-of-the-east.html|title=Catholicos of the East {{!}} our-church|website=stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com|access-date=2019-11-06|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804005445/https://www.stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com/index.php?%2Four-church%2Fcatholicos-of-the-east.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Relic]]s of St. Thomas are kept in the catholicate chapel, and [[Baselios Geevarghese II|Geevarghese II]], [[Baselios Augen I|Augen I]], [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews I|Mathews I]] and [[Paulose II (Indian Orthodox Church)|Paulose II]] are interred there.
 
==== List of Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church ====
The list of [[Catholicos of the East]] of Malankara Church:
The list of [[Catholicos of the East]] of Malankara Church:
*[[Baselios Paulose I]] (1912–1914)
*[[Baselios Paulose I]] (1912–1914)
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** From 1934 Catholicos is also holding the office of [[Malankara Metropolitan]].
** From 1934 Catholicos is also holding the office of [[Malankara Metropolitan]].
*[[Baselios Augen I]] (1964–1975)
*[[Baselios Augen I]] (1964–1975)
*[[Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I]] (1975–1991)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews I|Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I]] (1975–1991)
*[[Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II]] (1991–2005)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews II|Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II]] (1991–2005)
*[[Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I]] (2005–2010)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Didymos I|Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I]] (2005–2010)
*[[Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II]] (2010–2021)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Paulose II|Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II]] (2010–2021)
**[[Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III]] (2021–present)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III|Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III]] (2021–present)


==Administration==
==Administration==
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===1934 church constitution===
===1934 church constitution===
Envisioned by Dionysius VI, the church's general and day-to-day administration was codified in its 1934 constitution. The constitution<ref name=":0">{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|url=http://marthoman.tv/images/MOSC%20Constitution.pdf|website=Marthoman.tv |page=11 |access-date=30 December 2018}}</ref> was presented at the 26 December 1934 Malankara Christian Association meeting at M. D. Seminary,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mosc.in/administration/administration|title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Church |website=mosc.in}}</ref> adopted and enacted. It has been amended three times. Although the constitution was challenged in court by dissident supporters of the [[Patriarch of Antioch]], [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] rulings in 1958, 1995, 2017 and 2018 upheld its validity.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sc-says-no-review-of-malankara-verdict/article20487475.ece|title=SC says no review of Malankara Church verdict: Upholds 1934 constitution of Church| last=Rajagopal|first= Krishnadas|newspaper=The Hindu|date=16 November 2017}}</ref>
Envisioned by Dionysius VI, the church's general and day-to-day administration was codified in its 1934 constitution. The constitution<ref name=mosc>{{cite web|title=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Constitution|year= 1934|url= https://mosc.in/uploads/2015/05/MOSC-Constitution.pdf|quote=The Malankara Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church. The Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch.}}</ref> was presented at the 26 December 1934 Malankara Christian Association meeting at M. D. Seminary,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mosc.in/administration/administration|title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Church |website=mosc.in}}</ref> adopted and enacted. It has been amended three times. Although the constitution was challenged in court by dissident supporters of the [[Patriarch of Antioch]], [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] rulings in 1958, 1995, 2017 and 2018 upheld its validity.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/sc-says-no-review-of-malankara-verdict/article20487475.ece|title=SC says no review of Malankara Church verdict: Upholds 1934 constitution of Church| last=Rajagopal|first= Krishnadas|newspaper=The Hindu|date=16 November 2017}}</ref>


The constitution's first article emphasises the bond between the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and the Malankara church, defining them as sister churches and stating that the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church Union, whose chief [[Primate (bishop)|Primate]] is the [[Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]]. The Chief Primate of Malankara Church is Catholicos who is also the Malankara Metropolitan.<ref
The constitution's first article asserts the relationship between the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] and the Malankara Church. The second article addresses the establishment of the Malankara Church by St. Thomas and ascribes primacy to the [[Catholicos]]. The third article regards the church's name. The fourth article describes the faith and its traditions. The fifth article examines church governance [[canon law]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mosc.in/administration/administration|title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Church|publisher=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|access-date=14 September 2023}}</ref>
name="MOSC">{{cite book
| title    = Constitution:First clause and second clause
| quote    = 1. The Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch. 2. The Malankara Church was founded by St. Thomas the Apostle and is included in the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East and the Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East is the Catholicos.
| author    = MOSC}}</ref> The second article outlines the church's foundation and designates its primate as the [[Catholicos]]. The third article refers to the name of the church, and the fourth to their faith traditions. The fifth article examines the [[canon law]] governing church administration.


===Malankara Association===
===Malankara Association===
Line 262: Line 206:


The church constitution outlines the association's powers and responsibilities. The [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]] is the president, and the diocesan [[metropolitan bishop]]s are vice-presidents. All positions are elected. Each parish is represented in the association by an elected priest and laypeople, proportional to parish-membership size.
The church constitution outlines the association's powers and responsibilities. The [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]] is the president, and the diocesan [[metropolitan bishop]]s are vice-presidents. All positions are elected. Each parish is represented in the association by an elected priest and laypeople, proportional to parish-membership size.
===Co-trustees===
This is a list of co-trustees ([[Priest Trustee|priest trustee]] & lay trustee) elected by the Malankara Association of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mosc.in/administration/malankara-association |title=Malankara Association |publisher=mosc.in |accessdate=2023-04-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ovsonline.in/?p=27876 |title=Malankara Association |publisher=www.ovsonline.in |accessdate=2023-04-15}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width: 100%;"
|-
! style="background-color: #DCDCDC; width: 10%; color: #000000;" | Year of Election
! style="background-color: #DCDCDC; width: 20%; color: #000000;" | Clergy Trustee
! style="background-color: #DCDCDC; width: 20%; color: #000000;" | Duration
! style="background-color: #DCDCDC; width: 20%; color: #000000;" | Lay Trustee
! style="background-color: #DCDCDC; width: 20%; color: #000000;" | Duration
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1869
| style="text-align: center;"|Punnathra Chacko Chandapilla Kathanar
| style="text-align: center;"|21 Oct 1869 – 13 Sep 1886
| style="text-align: center;"|Kulangara Ittychan Pailey
| style="text-align: center;"|12 Oct 1869 – ?
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1886
| style="text-align: center;"|Konat Kora Yohannan Kathanar
| style="text-align: center;"|13 Sep 1886 – 9 Mar 1890
| style="text-align: center;"|Kunnumpurath Kora Ulahannan, Kottayam
| style="text-align: center;"|13 Sep 1886 & <br>31 Mar 1892 – 24 Feb 1901
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1892
| style="text-align: center;"|Konat Kora Mathan Malpan
| style="text-align: center;"|31 Mar 1892 & <br>23 Nov 1895 – 7 Sep 1911
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1901
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|C. J. Kurien (Kunnumpurath Ulahannan Kora), Kottayam
| style="text-align: center;"|25 Apr 1901 – 7 Sep 1911
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1911
| style="text-align: center;"|Palappalil Mani Paulose Kathanar Pampakuda
| style="text-align: center;"|7 Sep 1911 – 21 Dec 1955
| style="text-align: center;"|Chirakadavil Kora Kochu Korula, Kottayam (d. 1931)
| style="text-align: center;"|07 Sep 1911 – 31 May 1931
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1931
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|E. I Joseph, Kottayam
| style="text-align: center;"|10 Jul 1931 – 15 Jul 1946
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1958
| style="text-align: center;"|Manalil Jacob Kathanar
| style="text-align: center;"|26 Dec 1958 – 28 Dec 1965
| style="text-align: center;"|Ooppoottil Kurien Abraham, Kottayam
| style="text-align: center;"|26 Dec 1958 – 12 Dec 1978
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1965
| style="text-align: center;"|Thengumthottathil T. S. Abraham Cor Episcopa
| style="text-align: center;"|28 Dec 1965 – 28 Dec 1982
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1980
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
| style="text-align: center;"|Padinjarekkara P. C. Abraham, Kottayam
| style="text-align: center;"|1 May 1980 – 21 Mar 2007
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1982
| style="text-align: center;"|Konat Abraham Malpan
| style="text-align: center;"|28 Dec 1982 – 3 Mar 1987
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|1987
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Mathai Nooranal
| style="text-align: center;"|29 Dec 1987 – 29 Nov 2002
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|2004
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Dr. O. Thomas
| style="text-align: center;"|10 Jun 2004 – 21 Mar 2007
| style="text-align: center;"|-
| style="text-align: center;"|
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|2007
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Johns Abraham Konat
| style="text-align: center;"|21 Mar 2007 – 7 Mar 2012
| style="text-align: center;"|M.G. George Muthoot
| style="text-align: center;"|21 Mar 2007 – 7 Mar 2012
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|2012
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Johns Abraham Konat
| style="text-align: center;"|7 Mar 2012 – 1 Mar 2017
| style="text-align: center;"|M.G. George Muthoot
| style="text-align: center;"|7 Mar 2012 – 1 Mar 2017
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|2017
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Dr. M.O. John
| style="text-align: center;"|1 Mar 2017 – 4 Aug 2022
| style="text-align: center;"|George Paul (d. 2019)
| style="text-align: center;"|1 Mar 2017 – 26 Nov 2019
|- valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
| style="text-align: center;"|2022
| style="text-align: center;"|Fr. Dr. Thomas Varghese Amayil
| style="text-align: center;"|4 Aug 2022 – present
| style="text-align: center;"|Ronny Varghese Abraham
| style="text-align: center;"|4 Aug 2022 – present
|}


===Dioceses===
===Dioceses===
Line 306: Line 375:
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}


==Metropolitan Bishops==
=== Metropolitan bishops ===
The church's Episcopal Synod has the following diocesan bishops:<ref>{{cite web | title =Holy Synod | url =http://mosc.in/holysynod | website =mosc.in | date = 2019 }}</ref>
The church's episcopal synod has the following diocesan bishops:<ref>{{cite web | title =Holy Synod | url =http://mosc.in/holysynod | website =mosc.in | date = 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://mosc.in/uploads/2022/01/Kalpana-344-2022-1.pdf |title=Kalpana No. 344/2022 Appointments of Bishops |publisher=mosc.in |accessdate=2023-09-27}}</ref>
 
{{div col | colwidth=30em}}
{{div col | colwidth=30em}}
* Baselios Marthoma Paulose II (Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan), Kottayam Central, Kunnamkulam
* [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]] Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.[[Kandanad West Orthodox Diocese|Kandanad West]], [[Bangalore Orthodox Diocese|Bangalore Diocese]] and [[Kottayam Central Orthodox Diocese|Kottayam Central]]
* Thomas Mar Athanasius – Kandanad East
* [[Thomas Mar Athanasios]] Metropolitan of [[Kandanad East Diocese]]
* Yuhanon Mar Meletius – Thrissur
* [[Yuhanon Mar Meletius]] Metropolitan of [[Thrissur Orthodox Diocese|Thrissur Diocese]]
* [[Kuriakose Clemis]] – Thumbamon
* [[Kuriakose Mar Clemis]] Valiya Metropolita<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mosc.in/uploads/2023/01/No.-248-Kalpana-H-G-Mar-Cleemis-Metropolitan.pdf |title=Kalpana No. 248 H G Mar Cleemis Valiya Metropolita |publisher=mosc.in |accessdate=2023-09-26}}</ref> Retired
* Zachariah Mar Anthonios Kollam
* [[Geevarghese Mar Coorilose]] Metropolitan of [[Bombay Orthodox Diocese|Bombay Diocese]]
* Geevarghese Mar Coorilos – Bombay
* [[Zachariah Mar Nicholovos]] Metropolitan of [[Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Northeast America|Northeast America Diocese]]
* Zachariah Mar Nicholovos – Northeast America
* [[Yakob Mar Irenios]] – Metropolitan of [[Kochi Orthodox Diocese|Kochi Diocese]]
* [[Mathews Mar Severios]] – [[Kandanad West Orthodox Diocese|Kandanad West]], [[Idukki Orthodox Diocese|Idukki]]
* [[Gabriel Mar Gregorios]] -Metropolitan of [[Thiruvananthapuram Orthodox Diocese|Trivandrum Diocese]]
* Yacob Mar Irenaios – Kochi
* [[Yuhanon Mar Chrysostamos]] Metropolitan of [[Niranam Orthodox Diocese|Niranam Diocese]]
* [[Gabriel Mar Gregorios]] -Trivandrum
* [[Yuhanon Mar Policarpos]] Metropolitan of [[Angamaly Malankara Orthodox Diocese|Ankamali Diocese]]
* Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos – Niranam
* [[Mathews Mar Theodosius]] - On Leave
* Yuhanon Mar Policarpos – Ankamali
* [[Joseph Mar Dionysius]] Metropolitan of [[Kollam Orthodox Diocese|Kollam Diocese]]
* Mathews Mar Theodosius
* [[Abraham Ephiphanios|Abraham Mar Ephiphanios]] – Metropolitan of [[Mavelikara Orthodox Diocese|Mavelikara Diocese]]
* Joseph Mar Dionysius – Calcutta
* [[Mathews Mar Thimothios]] – Metropolitan of [[Chengannur Orthodox Diocese|Chengannur Diocese]]
* [[Abraham Ephiphanios|Abraham Mar Ephiphanios]] – Sulthan Bethery
* [[Alexios Mar Eusebios]] - Metropolitan of [[Calcutta Orthodox Diocese|Calcutta Diocese]]
* [[Mathews Mar Thimothios]] – UK, Europe, Africa
* [[Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros]] – Metropolitan of [[Kottayam Orthodox Diocese|Kottayam Diocese]]
* Alexios Mar Eusebius – Mavelikara
* [[Youhanon Mar Demetrios]] Metropolitan of [[Delhi Orthodox Diocese|Delhi Diocese]]
* [[Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros]] – Madras, Kottayam
* [[Yuhanon Mar Thevodoros]] Metropolitan of [[Kottarakkara Punalur Orthodox Diocese|Kottarakara–Punalur Diocese]]
* Yuhanon Mar Dimitrios – Delhi
* [[Yakob Mar Elias]] Metropolitan of [[Brahmavar Orthodox Diocese|Brahmavar Diocese]]
* Yuhanon Mar Thevodoros – Kottarakara – Punalur
* [[Joshua Mar Nicodemos]] Metropolitan of [[Nilakal Orthodox Diocese|Nilackal Diocese]]
* Yakob Mar Elias – Brahmavar
* [[Zacharias Mar Aprem]] – Metropolitan of [[Adoor Kadampanad Orthodox Diocese|Adoor–Kadampanadu Diocese]]
* Joshua Mar Nicodimos – Nilackal
* [[Geevarghese Mar Yulios]] Metropolitan of [[Kunnamkulam Diocese]]
* [[Zacharias Mar Aprem]] – Adoor – Kadampanadu
* [[Abraham Mar Seraphim]] – Metropolitan of [[Thumpamon Orthodox Diocese|Thumbamon Diocese]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mosc.in/uploads/2023/01/Kalpana-Thumpamon-Diocese.pdf |title=Kalpana No. 240 – Thumpamon Diocese Mar Seraphim Metropolitan |publisher=mosc.in |accessdate=2023-09-27}}</ref>
* Geevarghese Mar Yulius Ahmedabad, Kunnamkulam
* [[Abraham Mar Stephanos]]-Metropolitan of [[UK, Europe and Africa Malankara Orthodox Diocese|UK, Europe, Africa Diocese]]
* Abraham Mar Seraphim – Bangalore
* [[Thomas Mar Ivanios]]- Metropolitan of [[Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Southwest America|Southwest America Diocese]]
* [[Geevarghese Mar Theophilos]]- Metropolitan of [[Ahmedabad Orthodox Diocese|Ahmedabad Diocese]] & Asst. Metropolitan of [[Bombay Orthodox Diocese|Bombay Diocese]]
* [[Geevarghese Mar Philexinos]]- Metropolitan of [[Madras Orthodox Diocese|Madras Diocese]] & Asst. Metropolitan of [[Bangalore Orthodox Diocese|Bangalore Diocese]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mosc.in/uploads/2023/01/Kalpana-Bangalore-Diocese.pdf |title=Kalpana No. 242 – Bangalore Diocese Mar Philaxenos Metropolitan |publisher=mosc.in |accessdate=2023-09-27}}</ref>
* [[Geevarghese Mar Pachomios]]- Metropolitan of [[Malabar Orthodox Diocese|Malabar Diocese]]
* [[Geevarghese Mar Barnabas]]- Metropolitan of [[Sulthan Bathery Orthodox Diocese|Sulthan Bathery Diocese]]
* [[Zachariah Severios | Zachariah Mar Severios]]- Metropolitan of [[Idukki Orthodox Diocese|Idukki Diocese]]
{{div col end}}
{{div col end}}
{{Wide image|File:Mosc bishops.jpg|700px|The Episcopal Synod in 2012|align-cap=center|alt=Large group of metropolitans}}


==Churches with historical importance==
==Churches with historical importance==
{{multiple image
{{multiple image
| direction = vertical
| direction         = vertical
| image1   = Parumala Church.jpg
| image1           = Parumala Church.jpg
| caption1 = [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]]
| caption1         = [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]]
| image2   = നിരണം പള്ളി.jpg
| image2           = നിരണം പള്ളി.jpg
| caption2 = [[St. Mary's Church, Niranam]]
| caption2         = [[St. Mary's Church, Niranam]]
| image3   = Arappally02.jpg
| image3           = Arappally02.jpg
| caption3 = [[St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode]]
| caption3         = [[St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode]]
| image4   = Chengannur 2.JPG
| image4           = Chengannur 2.JPG
| caption4 = [[Old Syrian Church, Chengannur]]
| caption4         = [[Old Syrian Church, Chengannur]]
| image5   = Vettickal Dayara.jpg
| image5           = Vettickal Dayara.jpg
| caption5 = [[St.Thomas Dayara, Vettikkal]]
| caption5         = [[St.Thomas Dayara, Vettikkal]]
| image6   = St George Church Kochi.jpg
| image6           = St George Church Kochi.jpg
| caption6 = [[St George Orthodox Koonan Kurishu Old Syrian Church]], [[Mattancherry]]
| caption6         = [[St George Orthodox Koonan Kurishu Old Syrian Church]], [[Mattancherry]]
| image7   = StGeorgeOrthodoxChurch Puthuppalli.jpg
| image7           = StGeorgeOrthodoxChurch Puthuppalli.jpg
| caption7 = [[St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally]]
| caption7         = [[St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally]]
| image8            =
| caption8          = [[St. George's Church, Mylapra]]
| caption9          = [[St. George's Church, Chandanapally]]
| image9            = Chandanappally Valiyapally.jpg
}}
}}


{{div col}}
* [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]]  
* [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala]]  
* [[St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Arthat]], established by Apostle Saint Thomas
* [[St. George Orthodox Church, Chandanapally|St. George's Church, Chandanapally]]
* [[St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Arthat]]
* [[St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode]], established by Apostle Saint Thomas
* [[St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode]], established by Apostle Saint Thomas
* [[St. Mary's Church, Niranam]], established by Apostle Saint Thomas
* [[St. Mary's Church, Niranam]], established by Apostle Saint Thomas
* [[St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Puthencavu]]
* [[St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Puthencavu]]
* [[Pazhanji#Pazhanji Church|Pazhanji Cathedral]]
* [[Mar Beshanania Orthodox Church, Vanchithra, Kozhencherry]]
* [[St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Pazhanji]]
* [[St. Mary's Church, Kottayam]]  
* [[St. Mary's Church, Kottayam]]  
* [[Kallada]][[Valiyapally]]
* [[Kallada]][[Valiyapally]]
* [[Kundara]][[Valiyapally]]
* [[Kundara]][[Valiyapally]]
* [[St.Thomas Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, Mulanthuruthy]]
* [[St. Thomas Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, Mulanthuruthy]]
* [[Thumpamon Valiya Pally]]
* [[Thumpamon Valiya Pally]]
* [[South Bazar Church|Ambalam Pally, Kunnamkulam]]
* [[South Bazar Church|Ambalam Pally, Kunnamkulam]]
Line 373: Line 453:
* [[St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally|Puthuppally Pally]]
* [[St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally|Puthuppally Pally]]
* [[St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Kandanad]]
* [[St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Kandanad]]
* [[St. George Orthodox Valiyapally, Mylapra]]
* [[St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad]]
* [[St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad]]
* [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Kolenchery]]
* [[St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Kolenchery]]
Line 380: Line 461:
* [[St Mary's Orthodox Church, Kallooppara]]
* [[St Mary's Orthodox Church, Kallooppara]]
* [[St. George's Church, Chandanapally]]
* [[St. George's Church, Chandanapally]]
* [[St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Puthiyacavu Mavelikara]]
* [[Old Syrian Church, Chengannur]]
* [[Old Syrian Church, Chengannur]]
{{div col end}}
* St. Stephen's Orthodox Cathedral, Kudassanad
* [[St.John's orthodox church,
* [[Kadeesa Orthodox Cathedral, Kayamkulam]]
Vakathanam]]
 
* [http://www.pallibhagamyouth.com/ St.Stephen's Orthodox Cathedral, Kudassanad]
==Monasteries and convents==
 
*[[Monastery of Saint Thomas, Vettikkal]]
*[[Mount Tabor Monastery, Pathanapuram]]
*[[The Bethany Ashram]]


==Spiritual organizations==
==Spiritual organizations==
Line 404: Line 490:
*St. Thomas Orthodox Vaidika Sanghom
*St. Thomas Orthodox Vaidika Sanghom
*Marth Mariam Vanitha Samajam (women's wing)  
*Marth Mariam Vanitha Samajam (women's wing)  
*Sruti School of Liturgical Music
*Ecological Commission
*Ecological Commission
*Ardra Charitable Trust<ref>{{cite web |title=Spiritual Organisation |url=http://mosc.in/spiritual |website=mosc.in |publisher=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church}}</ref>
*Ardra Charitable Trust<ref>{{cite web |title=Spiritual Organisation |url=http://mosc.in/spiritual |website=mosc.in |publisher=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church}}</ref>
Line 413: Line 500:


==Ecumenical relations==
==Ecumenical relations==
The church was a founding member of the [[World Council of Churches]].<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Christianity'' by Erwin Fahlbusch and Geoffrey William Bromiley, p. 285.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=March 2020}} Catholicos Geevarghese II and other metropolitan participated in the 1937 Conference on Faith and Order in [[Edinburgh]]; a church delegation participated in the 1948 WCC meeting in [[Amsterdam]] in 1948, and the church played a role in the 1961 WCC conference in [[New Delhi]]. Metropolitan [[Paulos Gregorios]] was president of the WCC from 1983 to 1991.
The church was a founding member of the [[World Council of Churches]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://archive.org/details/wcca5/page/230/mode/2up?q=list| title=World council of churches, Amsterdam 1948| website=archive.org| year=1948| page=230}}</ref> Catholicos Geevarghese II and other metropolitan participated in the 1937 Conference on Faith and Order in [[Edinburgh]]; a church delegation participated in the 1948 WCC meeting in [[Amsterdam]] in 1948, and the church played a role in the 1961 WCC conference in [[New Delhi]]. Metropolitan [[Paulos Gregorios]] was president of the WCC from 1983 to 1991.


The church participated in the 1965 Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in [[Addis Ababa]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.theorthodoxchurch.info/aacp/resolutions/addis-ababa-conference/| title=Addis Ababa Conference| website=theorthodoxchurch.info}}</ref> It is a member of the [[Faith and Order Commission]], the [[Christian Conference of Asia]]
The church participated in the 1965 Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in [[Addis Ababa]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.theorthodoxchurch.info/aacp/resolutions/addis-ababa-conference/| title=Addis Ababa Conference| website=theorthodoxchurch.info}}</ref> It is a member of the [[Faith and Order Commission]], the [[Christian Conference of Asia]]
Line 419: Line 506:


===Order of St. Thomas===
===Order of St. Thomas===
The [[Order of St. Thomas (award)|Order of St. Thomas]], the church's highest award, is presented to heads of state and churches by the [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]]. Recipients include [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople]], Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians [[Karekin II]], Patriarch of Ethiopia [[Abune Paulos]], Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia [[Aram I]], and Patriarch of Ethiopia [[Abune Mathias]].{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}
The [[Order of St. Thomas (award)|Order of St. Thomas]], the church's highest award is presented to heads of state and churches by the [[Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan]]. Recipients include [[Bartholomew I of Constantinople]], Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians [[Karekin II]], Patriarch of Ethiopia [[Abune Paulos]], Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia [[Aram I]], and Patriarch of Ethiopia [[Abune Mathias]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://malankaraorthodox.tv/?p=62396 |website=Malankaraorthodox.tv| title=Recipients of the order of St. Thomas| access-date=1 August 2018}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
 
{{Portal|Christianity|India}}
*[[List of Malankara Metropolitans]]
*[[List of Malankara Metropolitans]]
 
*[[List of metropolitans of the Indian Orthodox Church]]
==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}


==References==
==References==
Line 433: Line 518:
==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin|2}}
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Baum|first1=Wilhelm|author-link1=Wilhelm Baum (historian)|last2=Winkler|first2=Dietmar W.|title=The Church of the East: A Concise History|year=2003|location=London-New York|publisher=Routledge-Curzon|isbn=9781134430192|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSCAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=Miaphysite, not Monophysite!|journal=Cristianesimo Nella Storia|year=2016|volume=37|number=1|pages=45–52|isbn=9788815261687|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brock|first=Sebastian P.|author-link=Sebastian P. Brock|title=Miaphysite, not Monophysite!|journal=Cristianesimo Nella Storia|year=2016|volume=37|number=1|pages=45–52|isbn=9788815261687|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TwKJDAEACAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Leslie W.|title=The Indian Christians of St Thomas: An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar|year=1956|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9gYAAAAIAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Brown|first=Leslie W.|title=The Indian Christians of St Thomas: An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar|year=1956|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H9gYAAAAIAAJ}}
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* {{Cite book|last=Neill|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707|year=2004|orig-year=1984|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521548854|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RH4VPgB__GQC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Neill|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707|year=2004|orig-year=1984|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521548854|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RH4VPgB__GQC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Neill|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: 1707-1858|year=2002|orig-year=1985|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521893329|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC}}
* {{Cite book|last=Neill|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Neill|title=A History of Christianity in India: 1707-1858|year=2002|orig-year=1985|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521893329|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi-tvrYbYxMC}}
* Tamcke, Martin (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=E2UYCm6b2v0C&pg=PA214&dq=%22Ignatius+Abdul+Masih+II%22&hl=en&ei=MrHFS-vdN4bc9AT-kdigDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22Ignatius%20Abdul%20Masih%20II%22&f=false ''Die Christen vom tur Abdin: Hinführung zur Syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche'']. Verlag Otto Lembeck. 3874765806.
* Tamcke, Martin (2009). [https://books.google.com/books?id=E2UYCm6b2v0C&dq=%22Ignatius+Abdul+Masih+II%22&pg=PA214 ''Die Christen vom tur Abdin: Hinführung zur Syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche'']. Verlag Otto Lembeck. 3874765806.
* {{Cite book|last=Vadakkekara|first=Benedict|title=Origin of Christianity in India: A Historiographical Critique|year=2007|location=Delhi|publisher=Media House|isbn=9788174952585|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f3YAAAAMAAJ}}
* {{Cite book|last=Vadakkekara|first=Benedict|title=Origin of Christianity in India: A Historiographical Critique|year=2007|location=Delhi|publisher=Media House|isbn=9788174952585|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7f3YAAAAMAAJ}}
* Van der Ploeg, J. P. M. (1983). ''The Christians of St. Thomas in South India and their Syriac Manuscripts''. Dharmaram Publications.
* Van der Ploeg, J. P. M. (1983). ''The Christians of St. Thomas in South India and their Syriac Manuscripts''. Dharmaram Publications.
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928082948/http://www.icon.org.in/icon_prev_catholicoses.icon ICON Indian Christian Orthodox Network – Catholicos of the East]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928082948/http://www.icon.org.in/icon_prev_catholicoses.icon ICON Indian Christian Orthodox Network – Catholicos of the East]
* [http://marthoman.tv/ Malankara Orthodox TV]
* [http://marthoman.tv/ Malankara Orthodox TV]
* [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Sathymeva_Jayathe/sandbox&oldid=1040891384]


{{Christianity in Kerala}}
{{Christianity in Kerala}}

Latest revision as of 20:06, 14 September 2024


Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
(Indian Orthodox Church)
Large, white two-storey building
MOSC Catholicate Palace
ClassificationOriental Orthodox
OrientationEastern Christianity
ScripturePeshitta
TheologyMiaphysitism
PolityEpiscopal
GovernanceEpiscopal Synod
PrimateMalankara Metropolitan & Catholicos of East Baselios Marthoma Mathews III
RegionIndia and the Nasrani Malayali diaspora
LanguageSyriac, Konkani, Malayalam, English
LiturgyWest Syriac Rite (Malankara Rite)
HeadquartersCatholicate Palace, Kottayam, Kerala, India
FounderThomas the Apostle
Origin1st century by tradition,[1]
1912
Independence1912 (Establishment of Catholicate)[2]
Branched fromSaint Thomas Christians, Malankara Church
SeparationsSyro-Malankara Catholic Church (1930)[3]:197
Members0.5 million in Kerala[4]
Other name(s)മലങ്കര സഭ
(Malankara Church)
Indian Orthodox Church
Official websitemosc.in

Template:Oriental Orthodox sidebar

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC)[5] also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC)[6] or simply as the Malankara Church,[7] is an autocephalous[8][9][2] Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian (also known as Nasrani) population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century (circa 52 AD).[10] It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite.

The MOSC descends from the Malankara Church and its affiliation with the Syriac Orthodox Church. However, between 1909 and 1912, a schism over the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch's authority resulted in the dissolution of the unified Malankara Church and establishment of the overlapping and conflicting MOSC and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC).[11] Since 1912, the MOSC has maintained a catholicate, the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan–presently Baselios Marthoma Mathews III–who is the primate of the church.

The MOSC drafted and formally adopted a constitution in 1934, in order to define the relationship it has with the Syriac Orthodox Church and the patriarch, wherein it defined itself a division of the Syriac Orthodox Church with its supreme spiritual leader being the Patriarch of Antioch. However the constitution stipulated that all the spiritual duties of the patriarch in the Malankara Church was entrusted to the Catholicos of the East and reiterated that its administration was the prerogative of the Malankara Metropolitan. The constitution further declared that the positions of the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan are to be held by the same person from then on, who shall henceforth act as the spiritual and administrative head of the church.[12] The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church asserts communion with the other Oriental Orthodox churches. However, regular legal and occasional physical confrontations between the MOSC and the Syriac Orthodox JSCC have continued despite multiple efforts to reconcile the churches.[11][13][14]:272

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church accepts miaphysitism,[15][16] which holds that in the one person of Jesus Christ, divinity and humanity are united in one (μία, mia) nature (φύσις – "physis") without separation, without confusion, without alteration and without mixing[17] where Christ is consubstantial with God the Father. Around 500 bishops within the Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem refused to accept the dyophysitism (two natures) doctrine decreed by the 4th ecumenical council, the Council of Chalcedon in 451,[dubious ] an incident that resulted in the second major split in the main body of the Christian Church (after the Nestorian schism). While the Oriental Orthodox churches rejected the Chalcedonian definition, the sees that would later become the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church accepted this council.[18]

Self-reporting roughly 2.5 million members (with external estimates of roughly 1 million)[19] across 30 dioceses worldwide, a significant proportion of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's adherents reside in the southern India state of Kerala with the diaspora communities in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.[20]

History[edit]

Early history[edit]

Chronological diagram of Saint Thomas Christian denominations

According to tradition, Christianity first arrived in India with Thomas the Apostle during the 1st century AD, evolving into Saint Thomas Christianity over several centuries.[21] While isolated and generally independent in administration, Indian Christians maintained contact with the Christian hierarchies of Antioch, Persia, and potentially Alexandria.[22][23] The Saint Thomas Christians had relationships with the Persian Church of the East from at least the 6th century onward. The Indians inherited its East Syriac dialect for liturgical use and gradually became Syriac Christians in ritual and doctrine. They received clerical support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships on the spice route.[24] For much of this period, Saint Thomas Christians were under the leadership of an archdeacon (a native ecclesiastical head with temporal powers, deriving from the Greek arkhidiākonos).

During the 16th century, efforts by the Portuguese Padroado–an arm of the Catholic Church–to bring the Saint Thomas Christians under the administration of the Latin Church and attempts to Latinize the Malankara Rite led to the first of several rifts in the community. These divisions intensified following the 1599 Synod of Diamper. Saint Thomas Christians who were opposed to the Portuguese Padroado missionaries took the Coonan Cross Oath on 3 January 1653.[25][26][27] The Dutch East India Company expulsion of the Portuguese from much of Malabar enabled the reconciliation of some Saint Thomas Christians and the Catholic Church, with this group eventually evolving into the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic church that adopted the Chaldean Catholic Church's East Syriac Rite and Diophysite christology.

Malankara Church[edit]

Many Saint Thomas Christian chose to remain independent from the Catholic Church. Patriarch Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem, witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop Thoma I, who forged a renewed relationship with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Saint Thomas Christians, which laid the foundation for adopting West Syrian liturgy and practices over the next two centuries. Those who supported the indigenous church leader of Malankara, Thoma I, and adopted West Syrian liturgies and practices and Miaphysite faith evolved into the Malankara Church.[28][29][30][31][32]

19th century[edit]

The Arthat Padiyola declared that the administration of Malankara Church was independent and the bishops from Rome, Antioch, and Babylon had no role in the Malankara Church hierarchy, despite continued efforts to integrate the remaining independent Saint Thomas Christians into these patriarchates. In 1807, four gospels of Holy Bible in Syriac were translated to Malayalam by Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban. The Malankara Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam was established in 1815 under the leadership of Pulikottil Ittup Ramban (Mar Dionysius II). The Mavelikara Synod (Padiyola) led by Cheppad Mar Dionysius rejected the suggestions put forward by Anglican missioneries and Reformation group and declared the beliefs and theology of Malankara Church were same as the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch.[citation needed]

20th century[edit]

Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril, who became the Malankara metropolitan bishop in 1908, played a significant role with the other clerical and lay leaders of Malankara in re-establishing the Catholicos of the East in India in 1912. In 1909 the relations with the Syrian Orthodox Church soured, when Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho II who arrived in India, began demanding registered deeds granting the patriarch temporal authority over the church. Dionysius rejected the request and thus emerged two factions in the church. The faction that supported the Patriarch came to be called as "Bava Kakshi" (Patriarch Faction) and the faction that supported the Malankara Metropolitan came to be known as "Methran Kakshi" (Metropolitan Faction).[33][34] The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its autocephaly, and appealed to Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Abdul Masih II. He enthroned Murimattathil Paulose Ivanios as Baselios Paulose I, Catholicos of the East, on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas at St. Mary's Church in Niranam on 15 September 1912.[35]

In 1934, The Malankara Church adopted a constitution for smooth functioning of the church, parishes and institution. In 1947, Saint Gregorios of Parumala was declared as a saint by the Church. In 1952 the Official Residence of the Malankara Metropolitan and the Headquarters of Malankara Church was shifted to Devalokam from Pazhaya Seminary. In 1958, The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Geevarghese II as the legitimate Malankara Metropolitan. The two factions of the Malankara Orthodox Church rejoined. In 1964, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch participated in the enthronement ceremony of the Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan, Baselios Augen I. In 1995, the Supreme Court of India declared the MOSC constitution adopted in 1934 was valid.[citation needed]

21st century[edit]

In 2002, fresh elections were conducted in Malankara Association under the observation of Supreme Court of India. The Supreme Court declared Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews II is the official and legitimate Malankara Metropolitan and also declared that this decision cannot be disputed in any platform. In 2003, Vattasheril Dionysius VI was declared as a saint. In 2012, the centennial of the establishment of the church and Catholicate were celebrated with history classes and church publications.[36] On 3 July 2017, a major verdict by the Supreme Court of India declared the MOSC legally applicable to all parishes in disputed possession between the MOSC and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.[37]

Hierarchy and doctrine[edit]

Baselios Marthoma Mathews III Present Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan

The spiritual head of the church is the Catholicos of the East, and its temporal head is the Malankara Metropolitan. Since 1934, both titles have been vested in one person; the official title of the head of the church is "The Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of Saint Thomas and The Malankara Metropolitan". Baselios Marthoma Mathews III was enthroned as the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicos of the East. He is the eighth Catholicose of the East in Malankara and the 21st Malankara Metropolitan.

Oriental Orthodox Churches, including the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, accept only the first three ecumenical councils: the First Council of Nicaea, the First Council of Constantinople, and the Council of Ephesus. The church, like all other Oriental Orthodox Churches, uses the original Nicene Creed[38] without the filioque clause.[39] Like the Syriac Orthodox Church, it primarily uses the liturgy of Saint James in Malayalam, Konkani, Kannada, Hindi, English and other Indian languages.

Liturgy and canonical hours[edit]

Eucharist celebration
Eucharist celebration of the church.

The church has used the Malankara Rite, part of the Antiochene Rite, since the 17th century.[40] The Jacobite Church and the Maronite Church also belong to the same liturgical family. In the first half of the fifth century, the Antiochene church adopted the Liturgy of Saint James. In the 4th and 5th centuries, The liturgical language of fourth- and fifth-century Jerusalem and Antioch was Greek, and the original liturgy was composed in Greek.

After the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Eastern Church was divided in two; one group accepted the council, and the other opposed it. Both groups continued to use the Greek version of the Saint James liturgy. The Byzantine emperor Justin (518–527) expelled the opponents from Antioch, and they took refuge in the Syriac-speaking Mesopotamia on the Roman–Persian border (modern eastern Syria, Iraq, and southeastern Turkey). The Antiochene liturgical rites were gradually translated into Syriac, and Syriac hymns were introduced.

Gregorios Abdal Jaleel came to Malankara from Jerusalem in 1665 and introduced Syriac Orthodox liturgical rites. The most striking characteristic of the Antiochene liturgy is its large number of anaphoras (celebrations of the Eucharist). About eighty are known, and about a dozen are used in India. All have been composed following the Liturgy of Saint James.[41]

Christians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray the canonical hours of the Shehimo at fixed prayer times seven times a day.[42]

The liturgy of Mor Addai is still in use, in anaphora form, similar to the Maronite Sharar. The anaphora of St. John Chrysostom is sometimes used.

Saints[edit]

Template:Nasrani people In conformity with other Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and also with the Roman Catholic Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church adheres to the tradition of seeking the intercession of saints. Several have been canonized:

Metropolitan[edit]

The temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the church is vested in the Malankara Metropolitan, subject to the church constitution which was adopted in 1934.[45] The Malankara Metropolitan is president of the Malankara Syrian Christian Association (Malankara Association) and its managing committee, and trustee of community properties. He is the custodian of the Pazhaya Seminary and other common properties of Malankara Syrian Community. He is also the custodian of vattipanam interest which was deposited in Travancore Government by Marthoma VII. He is elected by the Malankara association.

List of Malankara metropolitans[edit]

  1. Thoma I (1653–1670)[46]
  2. Thoma II (1670–1686)
  3. Thoma III (1686–1688)
  4. Thoma IV (1688–1728)
  5. Thoma V (1728–1765)
  6. Thoma VI (1765–1808)
  7. Thoma VII (1808–1809)
  8. Thoma VIII (1809–1816)
  9. Thoma IX (1816)
  10. Dionysius II (1816)
  11. Dionysius III (1817–1825)
  12. Dionysius IV (1825–1852)
  13. Mathews Athanasius (1852–1877)
  14. Dionysius V (1865–1909)[47]
  15. Dionysius VI (1909–1934)[48]
  16. Geevarghese II (1934–1964)[49] From 1934 Malankara Metropolitan also holds the office of Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
  17. Augen I (1964–1975), also Catholicos of the East
  18. Mathews I (1975–1991), also Catholicos of the East
  19. Mathews II (1991–2005),[50] also Catholicos of the East
  20. Didymos I (2005–2010), also Catholicos of the East
  21. Paulose II (2010–2021), also Catholicos of the East
  22. Mathews III (15 October 2021 – present), also Catholicos of the East[51][52]

Catholicate[edit]

"Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop."[53] The early church had three priestly ranks: episcopos (bishop), priest and deacon. By the end of the third century, bishops of important cities in the Roman Empire became known as metropolitans. The fourth-century ecumenical councils recognized the authority of the metropolitan. By the fifth century, the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control of the churches in surrounding cities.[54] They gradually became the heads of the regional churches, and were known as patriarchs (common father).

Outside the Roman Empire, patriarchs were known as catholicos. There were four catholicates before the fifth century: the Catholicate of the East, the Catholicate of Armenia, the Catholicate of Georgia and the Catholicate of Albania. The archdeacons reigned from the fourth to the 16th centuries; in 1653, the archdeacon was elevated to bishop by the community as Mar Thoma I.

The Catholicate of the East was relocated to India in 1912, and Baselios Paulose I was seated on the apostolic throne of St. Thomas as the Catholicos of the East by the disposed Patriarch of Antioch Abdul Masih. The headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Catholicos of the East is the Catholicate Palace at Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala, which was consecrated on 31 December 1951. The new palace, built in 1961, was dedicated by visiting Armenian Catholicos Vazgen I.

The Holy Synod and Managing committee designated H.G.Dr. Mathews Mor Severios to the new Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicos of Malankara Church succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II. He was consecrated as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan during the Malankara Association that took place on 14 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala and enthroned as the 9th Catholicos of Malankara Church on 15 October 2021.[55] Relics of St. Thomas are kept in the catholicate chapel, and Geevarghese II, Augen I, Mathews I and Paulose II are interred there.

List of Catholicos of the East of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church[edit]

The list of Catholicos of the East of Malankara Church:

Administration[edit]

Until the 17th century, the church was administered by the archdeacon (Malankara Moopan).[56] The elected archdeacon was in charge of day-to-day affairs, including the ordination of deacons to the priesthood. Ordinations were performed by Persian bishops visiting India. The Malankara Palliyogam (a forerunner of the Malankara Association) consisted of elected representatives from individual parishes. The isolation of the Malankara church from the rest of Christendom preserved the apostolic age's democratic nature through interactions with Portuguese (Roman Catholic) and British (Anglican) colonialists. From the 17th to the 20th centuries, the church had five pillars of administration:

  • The Episcopal Synod, presided over by the Catholicos of the East
  • The Malankara Association, presided by Malankara Metropolitan
  • Three trustees: the Malankara metropolitan and priest and lay trustees
  • The Malankara Association's managing and working committees[57][58]

1934 church constitution[edit]

Envisioned by Dionysius VI, the church's general and day-to-day administration was codified in its 1934 constitution. The constitution[59] was presented at the 26 December 1934 Malankara Christian Association meeting at M. D. Seminary,[60] adopted and enacted. It has been amended three times. Although the constitution was challenged in court by dissident supporters of the Patriarch of Antioch, Supreme Court rulings in 1958, 1995, 2017 and 2018 upheld its validity.[61]

The constitution's first article asserts the relationship between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Malankara Church. The second article addresses the establishment of the Malankara Church by St. Thomas and ascribes primacy to the Catholicos. The third article regards the church's name. The fourth article describes the faith and its traditions. The fifth article examines church governance canon law.[62]

Malankara Association[edit]

The elected Malankara Association, consisting of parish members, manages the church's religious and social concerns. Formerly the Malankara Palli-yogam (മലങ്കര പള്ളി യോഗം; Malankara Parish Assembly, its modern form is believed to have been founded in 1873 as the Mulanthuruthy Synod, a gathering of parish representatives in Parumala. In 1876, the Malankara Association began.[63]

The church constitution outlines the association's powers and responsibilities. The Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan is the president, and the diocesan metropolitan bishops are vice-presidents. All positions are elected. Each parish is represented in the association by an elected priest and laypeople, proportional to parish-membership size.

Co-trustees[edit]

This is a list of co-trustees (priest trustee & lay trustee) elected by the Malankara Association of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church:[64][65]

Year of Election Clergy Trustee Duration Lay Trustee Duration
1869 Punnathra Chacko Chandapilla Kathanar 21 Oct 1869 – 13 Sep 1886 Kulangara Ittychan Pailey 12 Oct 1869 – ?
1886 Konat Kora Yohannan Kathanar 13 Sep 1886 – 9 Mar 1890 Kunnumpurath Kora Ulahannan, Kottayam 13 Sep 1886 &
31 Mar 1892 – 24 Feb 1901
1892 Konat Kora Mathan Malpan 31 Mar 1892 &
23 Nov 1895 – 7 Sep 1911
-
1901 - C. J. Kurien (Kunnumpurath Ulahannan Kora), Kottayam 25 Apr 1901 – 7 Sep 1911
1911 Palappalil Mani Paulose Kathanar Pampakuda 7 Sep 1911 – 21 Dec 1955 Chirakadavil Kora Kochu Korula, Kottayam (d. 1931) 07 Sep 1911 – 31 May 1931
1931 - E. I Joseph, Kottayam 10 Jul 1931 – 15 Jul 1946
1958 Manalil Jacob Kathanar 26 Dec 1958 – 28 Dec 1965 Ooppoottil Kurien Abraham, Kottayam 26 Dec 1958 – 12 Dec 1978
1965 Thengumthottathil T. S. Abraham Cor Episcopa 28 Dec 1965 – 28 Dec 1982 -
1980 - Padinjarekkara P. C. Abraham, Kottayam 1 May 1980 – 21 Mar 2007
1982 Konat Abraham Malpan 28 Dec 1982 – 3 Mar 1987 -
1987 Fr. Mathai Nooranal 29 Dec 1987 – 29 Nov 2002 -
2004 Fr. Dr. O. Thomas 10 Jun 2004 – 21 Mar 2007 -
2007 Fr. Johns Abraham Konat 21 Mar 2007 – 7 Mar 2012 M.G. George Muthoot 21 Mar 2007 – 7 Mar 2012
2012 Fr. Johns Abraham Konat 7 Mar 2012 – 1 Mar 2017 M.G. George Muthoot 7 Mar 2012 – 1 Mar 2017
2017 Fr. Dr. M.O. John 1 Mar 2017 – 4 Aug 2022 George Paul (d. 2019) 1 Mar 2017 – 26 Nov 2019
2022 Fr. Dr. Thomas Varghese Amayil 4 Aug 2022 – present Ronny Varghese Abraham 4 Aug 2022 – present

Dioceses[edit]

Metropolitan bishops[edit]

The church's episcopal synod has the following diocesan bishops:[67][68]

Churches with historical importance[edit]

Monasteries and convents[edit]

Spiritual organizations[edit]

The church has a number of spiritual organizations:

  • Orthodox Syrian Sunday School Association of the East (OSSAE)[72]
  • Orthodox Christian Youth Movement (OCYM)
  • Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM)[73]
  • Divyabodhanam (Theological Education Programme for the Laity)
  • St. Paul's & St.Thomas Suvishesha Sangam (National Association for Mission Studies)
  • Orthodox Sabha Gayaka Sangham
  • Malankara Orthodox Baskiyoma Association
  • Servants of the Cross
  • Akhila Malankara Prayer Group Association
  • Akhila Malankara Orthodox Shusrushaka Sangham (AMOSS)
  • Mission Board and Mission Society
  • Ministry of Human Empowerment
  • Akhila Malankara Balasamajam
  • St. Thomas Orthodox Vaidika Sanghom
  • Marth Mariam Vanitha Samajam (women's wing)
  • Sruti School of Liturgical Music
  • Ecological Commission
  • Ardra Charitable Trust[74]

Seminaries[edit]

The two seminaries which offers bachelor's and master's degrees in theology are Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam[75] and St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur.[76] The Malankara Orthodox Seminary at Kottayam is the first Orthodox Seminary in Asia established in year 1815.

Ecumenical relations[edit]

The church was a founding member of the World Council of Churches.[77] Catholicos Geevarghese II and other metropolitan participated in the 1937 Conference on Faith and Order in Edinburgh; a church delegation participated in the 1948 WCC meeting in Amsterdam in 1948, and the church played a role in the 1961 WCC conference in New Delhi. Metropolitan Paulos Gregorios was president of the WCC from 1983 to 1991.

The church participated in the 1965 Conference of Oriental Orthodox Churches in Addis Ababa.[78] It is a member of the Faith and Order Commission, the Christian Conference of Asia and the Global Christian Forum. A number of primates of sister churches have visited, including Patriarch Justinian of Romania in February 1957 and in January 1969; Catholicos of All Armenians Vazgen I in December 1963; Armenian Patriarch Derderian of Jerusalem in December 1972; Patriarch Pimen I of Moscow in January 1977; Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II in September 1982; Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie in 1986, Patriarch Teoctist Arăpașu of Romania in 1989; Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I in November 2000; Metropolitan (later Patriarch) Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church in December 2006; Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II in November 2008, Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Paulos in December 2008; the Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I Keshishian in February 2010, and Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Mathias in November 2016.

Order of St. Thomas[edit]

The Order of St. Thomas, the church's highest award is presented to heads of state and churches by the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan. Recipients include Bartholomew I of Constantinople, Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Paulos, Armenian Catholicos of Cilicia Aram I, and Patriarch of Ethiopia Abune Mathias.[79]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Lossky, Nicholas; Bonino, José Miguez; Pobee, John, eds. (1991). "Oriental Orthodox Churches". Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement. Geneva: World Council of Churches. p. 756-757.
  2. 2.0 2.1 "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. Attwater, Donald (1935). "The Malankarese". The Catholic Eastern Churches (1937 revised ed.). Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company.
  4. Zachariah, K.C. (April 2016). "Religious denominations of Kerala" (PDF). Kerala: Centre for Development Studies (CDS). Working paper 468. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 June 2022.
  5. Thomas Arthur Russell (2010). Comparative Christianity: A Student's Guide to a Religion and Its Diverse Traditions. Universal-Publishers. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-59942-877-2. The Malankara Orthodox Church of India(also called by a variety of names, such as the Malankara Church). It is located in Kerala, India.
  6. "Home". Northeast American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  7. John; Anthony McGuckin (November 2010). The Encyclopedia Of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, 2 Volume Set. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwells. p. 878. ISBN 978-1-4443-9254-8. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as Indian Orthodox Church also Malankara Church, is one of the major and oldest churches in the world.
  8. Lucian N. Leustean (2010). Eastern Christianity and the Cold War, 1945–91. New York: Routeledge Taylor & Francis Group. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-203-86594-1.
  9. Fahlbusch; Lochman; Mbiti; Pelikan (November 2010). The Encyclopedia Of Christianity, Volume 5 S-Z. Gittingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck&Rupercht. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2. The autocephalous Malankara Orthodox Church is governed by Holy Episcopal Synod of 24 Bishops presided over by His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Didimos Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.
  10. The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
  11. 11.0 11.1 Brock, Sebastian P. (2018). "Thomas Christians". In Mardutho, Beth (ed.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
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Bibliography[edit]

External links[edit]

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