Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC)[7] also known as the Malankara Church and the Indian Orthodox Church,[8] is an autocephalous[9][10] church based in Kerala, India. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the oldest Christian communities in Asia. The church serves India's Saint Thomas Christian (also known as Nasrani) population. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.[11] The autocephalous[12] Catholicos of the East and the Malankara Metropolitan, enthroned on the Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas (currently Baselios Marthoma Paulose II), is the primate of the church. It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite. 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 with the other five Oriental Orthodox churches, including the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch (and its own autonomous branch the Jacobite Catholicosate in India), and the Armenian Apostolic 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.[13]

"Indian Orthodox Church" redirects here. For other uses, see Indian Orthodox churches.

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Catholicate Palace in Kottayam, India
Classification	Oriental Orthodox
Orientation	Eastern Christianity
Scripture	Peshitta
Theology	Miaphysitism
Polity	Episcopal
Primate of IOC	Catholicos of the East H.H Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Paulose II
Region	India and the Nasrani Malayali diaspora
Language	Syriac, Suriyani Malayalam, Konkani, Malayalam, English
Liturgy	West Syriac Rite
Headquarters	Catholicate Palace, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Founder	Thomas the Apostle
Origin	AD 52 (1st century - Apostolic Era)[1][2]
Branched from	Saint Thomas Christians
Members	2.5 million[3][4][5]
Other name(s)	Malankara Syrian Christian Church (മലങ്കര സുറിയാനി ക്രിസ്ത്യാനി സഭ) Orthodox Syrian Church of the East[6]

Timeline of schisms in Malankara, indicating the extent and duration of foreign influences

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church holds to miaphysitism, 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[14] 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, 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 Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church accepted this council.[15]

History

Early history

See also: Saint Thomas Christian denominations and Malankara–Persia relations

The Saint Thomas Christians of the Malabar Coast were reportedly in communion with the Orthodox Churches of East from 496 to 1599.[16] 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 Portuguese Padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into Latin-rite Catholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community and the establishment of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and Malankara Church factions. The Saint Thomas Christians are currently divided into several groups.

They were under the leadership of an archdeacon (a native ecclesiastical head with spiritual and temporal powers, deriving from the Greek arkhidiākonos). The Saint Thomas Christians were in communion with the Church of the East, centered in Persia, since at least 496.[17][18] The indigenous Church of Malabar (Malankara) followed the faith and traditions of Thomas the Apostle. Portuguese Jesuits attempted to annex the native Christians to the Catholic Church at the 1599 Synod of Diamper. The Saint Thomas Christians who were opposed to Roman Catholicism took the Coonan Cross Oath on 3 January 1653. The Dutch East India Company defeated the Portuguese for control of the Malabar spice trade in 1663. Bishop Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of the Syriac Orthodox Church witnessed the 1665 ordination of Thomas as Bishop Thoma I, who forged a relationship with the Syriac church, which laid the foundation for adopting West Syrian liturgy and practices over the next two centuries.

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 the Catholicos of the East in India in 1912. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church wanted to retain its autocephaly, and appealed to 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.[19]

Hierarchy, distribution 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 "Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan." Paulose II was enthroned as Catholicos of the East on 1 November 2010 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala. He is the 91st Catholicos of the East in the lineage of Thomas the Apostle, the eighth after reinstatement in India, 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[20] without the filioque clause.[21] 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

Divine Liturgy at St. James' Orthodox Church, Delhi

The church has used the Malankara Rite, part of the Antiochene Rite, since the 17th century.[22] The East Syriac Rite 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 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 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.[23]

Christians of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church pray the canonical hours of the Shehimo at fixed prayer times seven times a day.[24]

Malankara Metropolitan

The temporal, ecclesiastical and spiritual administration of the church is vested in the Malankara Metropolitan, subject to the church constitution[25] 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 elected by the association.

Malankara Metropolitan after the Coonan Cross Oath

1. Thoma I (1653–1670)[26]
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)[27]
15. Dionysius VI (1909–1934)[28]
16. Geevarghese II (1934–1964)[29] From 1934 Malankara Metropolitan is 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),[30] also Catholicos of the East
20. Didymos I (2005–2010), also Catholicos of the East
21. Paulose II (2010–present),[31] also Catholicos of the East

Catholicate

Malankara Metropolitan Paulose II

"Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop."[32] 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. 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. 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. The archdeacons reigned from the fourth to the 16th centuries; in 1653, the archdeacon was elevated to bishop by the community as 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. 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.[33] Relics of St. Thomas are kept in the catholicate chapel, and Geevarghese II, Augen I and Mathews I are interred there.

Catholicos of the East

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan Paulose II

According to the church, it was founded by St. Thomas when he came to India in 52 AD.[34] Since the fourth century, the Indian church had a close relationship with the 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 join the Syrian Christians with the Roman Catholic Church, dividing the community; those who accepted Catholicism became the present-day Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The church adopted West Syrian liturgies and practices, and the catholicate was established in 1912.

List of Catholicos of the East in Malankara Church

The list of Catholicos of the East of Malankara Church:

• Baselios Paulose I (1912–1914)
  • Vacant (1914–1925)
• Baselios Geevarghese I (1925–1928)
• Baselios Geevarghese II (1929–1964)
  • From 1934 Catholicos is also holding the office of Malankara Metropolitan.
• Baselios Augen I (1964–1975)
• Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I (1975–1991)
• Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II (1991–2005)
• Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I (2005–2010)
• Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II (2010–present)

Administration

Until the 17th century, the church was administered by the archdeacon) and the Persian bishops[35] from the Church of the East. 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 metropolitan and priest and lay trustees
• The Malankara Association's managing and working committees[36][37]

1934 church constitution

Envisioned by Dionysius VI, the church's general and day-to-day administration was codified in its 1934 constitution. The constitution[38] was presented at the 26 December 1934 Malankara Christian Association meeting at M. D. Seminary,[39] 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.[40]

The constitution's first article emphasises the bond between the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Malankara church, defining them as sister churches.[41] 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

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.[42]

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.

Dioceses

1. Thiruvananthapuram Diocese
2. Kollam Diocese
3. Kottarakkara Punaloor Diocese
4. Adoor Kadampanad Diocese
5. Thumpamon Diocese
6. Nilakal Diocese
7. Mavelikara Diocese
8. Chengannur Diocese
9. Niranam Diocese
10. Kottayam Diocese
11. Kottayam Central Diocese
12. Idukki Diocese
13. Kandanad West Diocese
14. Kandanad East Diocese
15. Kochi Diocese
16. Angamaly Diocese
17. Thrissur Diocese
18. Kunnamkulam Diocese
19. Malabar Diocese
20. Sulthan Bathery Diocese
21. Brahmavar Diocese
22. Bangalore Diocese
23. Madras Diocese
24. Bombay Diocese
25. Ahmedabad Diocese
26. Delhi Diocese
27. Calcutta Diocese
28. UK, Europe and Africa Diocese
29. Northeast America Diocese
30. Southwest America Diocese[43]

Saints

In conformity with other Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Malankara church adheres to the tradition of seeking the intercession of saints. Several have been canonized:

• 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
• 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[44]
• Fr. Roque Zephrin Noronah: Entombed in St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Brahmavar, and declared a regional saint by Paulose II in 2015[45]

• 
  Geevarghese Gregorios of Parumala
• 
  Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril
• 
  Baselios Yeldo
• 
  Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares

Metropolitan Bishops

The Episcopal Synod in 2012

The church's Episcopal Synod has the following diocesan bishops:[46]

• Paulose II (Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan), Kottayam Central, Kunnamkulam
• Thomas Mar Athanasius – Kandanad East
• Yuhanon Mar Meletius – Thrissur
• Kuriakose Clemis – Thumbamon
• Zachariah Mar Anthonios – Kollam
• Geevarghese Mar Coorilos – Bombay
• Zachariah Mar Nicholovos – Northeast America
• Mathews Mar Severios – Kandanad West
• Yacob Mar Irenaios – Kochi
• Gabriel Mar Gregorios -Trivandrum
• Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos – Niranam
• Yuhanon Mar Policarpos – Ankamali
• Mathews Mar Theodosius – Idukki
• Joseph Mar Dionysius – Calcutta
• Abraham Mar Ephiphanios – Sulthan Bethery
• Mathews Mar Thimothios – UK, Europe, Africa
• Alexios Mar Eusebius – Mavelikara
• Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros – Madras, Kottayam
• Yuhanon Mar Dimitrios – Delhi
• Yuhanon Mar Thevodoros – Kottarakara – Punalur
• Yakob Mar Elias – Brahmavar
• Joshua Mar Nicodimos – Nilackal
• Zacharias Mar Aprem – Adoor – Kadampanadu
• Geevarghese Mar Yulius – Ahmedabad, Kunnamkulam
• Abraham Mar Seraphim – Bangalore

Seminaries

The two seminaries which offer bachelor's and master's degrees in theology are the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam[47] and St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur.[48]

Ecumenical relations

The church was a founding member of the World Council of Churches.[49] 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.[50] 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

The Order of St. Thomas,[51] 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.

Spiritual organizations

The church has a number of spiritual organizations:

• Orthodox Syrian Sunday School Association of the East (OSSAE)[52]
• Orthodox Christian Youth Movement (OCYM)
• Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM)
• 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)
• Ecological Commission
• Ardra Charitable Trust[53]

Churches of historical importance

• St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala
• St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Arthat
• St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode
• St. Mary's Church, Niranam
• St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Puthencavu
• Pazhanji Cathedral
• St. Mary's Church, Kottayam
• Thumpamon Valiya Pally
• Ambalam Pally, Kunnamkulam
• Kottakkakathu Old Syrian Church,Karthikappally
• Puthuppally Pally
• St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Kandanad
• St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad
• St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Kolenchery
• St. George Orthodox Church, Cheppad
• St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Cathedral, Piravom
• St. George's Church, Kadamattom
• St Mary's Orthodox Church, Kallooppara
• St. George's Church, Chandanapally
• Old Syrian Church, Chengannur

Shrines

• 
  St. Mary's Church, Niranam
• 
  St. Mary's Church, Thiruvithamcode
• 
  St. George Orthodox Church, Puthuppally
• 
  St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala
• 
  St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Cathedral
• 
  St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Arthat
• 
  Old Syrian Church, Chengannur
• 
  St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Kandanad
• 
  St.Thomas Dayara, Vettikkal
• 
  St George Orthodox Koonan Kurishu Old Syrian Church
• 
  St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad
• 
  St. Mary's Church, Kottayam

See also

• List of Malankara Metropolitans

Notes

References

1. Ameerudheen, TA. "A century-old church dispute in Kerala flares up again as Supreme Court rejects plea on leadership". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
2. "Schism in Malankara Church snowballs into law and order issue". The Hindu. 20 February 2008. Archived from the original on 29 June 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
3. "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canada. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
4. https://www.ucanews.com/news/pope-calls-for-culture-of-encounter-with-the-indian-orthodox-church/69200
5. https://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/malankara-orthodox-syrian-church
6. Malankara Orthodox Church, English Version. "MOSC Constitution" (PDF). Malankara Orthodox Church. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 April 2018. Retrieved 20 April 2018. External link in |website= (help)
7. 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(Indian)Orthodox Church of India(also called by a variety of names, such as the Malankara Church). It is located in Kerala, India.
8. 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, is one of the major and oldest churches in India. The church is believed to have been founded by the Apostle St. Thomas in 52
9. Lucian N. Leustean (2010). Eastern christianity and the cold war, 1945–91. New York: Routeledge Taylor&Francis Group. p. 317. ISBN 0-203-86594-4. India has two main Orthodox churches, the autocephalous 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 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.
10. 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 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.
11. The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5 by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
12. "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". CNEWA. Archived from the original on 3 July 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2019. 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.
13. "Malankara church row: All you need to know about century-old dispute between Jacobite, Orthodox factions in Kerala". FirstPost. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
14. The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity by Ken Parry 2009 ISBN 1-4443-3361-5 page 88
15. "Catholic Encyclopedia: Henoticon". Newadvent.org. 1 June 1910. Retrieved 30 June 2013.
16. "St. Thomas Christians". New Advent. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
17. Frykenberg, p. 93.
18. Wilmshurst, EO, 343
19. "About the church". Niranam St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church. 2009. Archived from the original on 27 January 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
20. Geevarghese Mar Yulios : Ecumenical Council of Nicea and Nicene Creed
21. Paulos Mar Gregorios: Oriental and Eastern Orthodox churches
22. "Liturgy Holy Qurbana | St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church". indianorthodoxireland.ie. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
23. "Malankara Orthodox Church – Holy Qurbana". Malankaraorthodoxchurch.in. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
24. Kurian, Jake. ""Seven Times a Day I Praise You" – The Shehimo Prayers". Diocese of South-West America of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
25. "1934 constitution of The Malankara Church (മലങ്കരസഭ ഭരണഘടന)".
26. "Coonan Cross Oath History".
27. "Royal Court Verdict declared Pulikottil Joseph Dionysius as the rightful Malankara Metropolitan".
28. "In 1929, Travancore High Court declared Dionysius of Vattasseril will remain as the Malankara Metropolitan (Vattipanam Suit)".
29. "In 1958, Supreme Court of India declared Baselios Geevarghese II is the rightful Malankara Metropolitan (Samudayam Suit)".
30. "Supreme Court Order July 12, 2002 declared Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II is the unquestionable Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church".
31. "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".
32. "The Catholicate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
33. "Catholicos of the East | our-church". stthomasorthodoxcathedral.com. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
34. "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church |". mosc.in. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
35. Niranam Granthavari (Record of History written during 1770–1830). Editor Paul Manalil, M.O.C.Publications, Catholicate Aramana, Kottayam. 2002.
36. "The Managing Committee". mosc.in.
37. "The Working Committee". mosc.in.
38. The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (PDF). Marthoman.tv. p. 11. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
39. "The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Church". mosc.in.
40. Rajagopal, Krishnadas. "SC says no review of Malankara Church verdict: Upholds 1934 constitution of Church". thehindu.com.
41. MOSC. Constitution:First clause and second clause. 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.
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Bibliography

• Fahlbusch, Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley (198), The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2
• Frykenberg, Eric (2008). Christianity in India: from Beginnings to the Present. Oxford. ISBN 0-19-826377-5.
• Tamcke, Martin (2009). Die Christen vom tur Abdin: Hinführung zur Syrisch-orthodoxen Kirche. Verlag Otto Lembeck. 3874765806.
• Joseph Cheeran, et al.(2002) Tradition and History of Indian Orthodox Church, p. 300–423
• Menachery, George (1973). The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India Vol. II.
• Menachery, George (1998). The Indian Church History Classics: The Nazranies.
• Vadakkekara, Benedict (2007). Origin of Christianity in India: a historiographical critique. Media House Delhi.
• Van der Ploeg, J. P. M. (1983). The Christians of St. Thomas in South India and their Syriac Manuscripts. Dharmaram Publications.
• Wilmshurst, David (2000). The Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Church of the East, 1318–1913. Louvain: Peeters Publishers.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Wilmshurst, David (2011). The martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East. London: East & West Publishing Limited.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

External links

• Official website of the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Syrian Church
• Complete website of Catholicos of The East and Malankara Metropolitan
• Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Constitution of 1934
• Indian Orthodox Radio | E – Radio from the Shores of Malankara to the World
• Indian Orthodox Herald: News about the Catholicate of the East
• Matha Mariam Media: A Complete Orthodox Web Portal maintained by Trivandrum Diocese
• ICON Indian Christian Orthodox Network – Catholicos of the East
• Malankara Orthodox TV