The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in A.D. 52.
At least from the fourth century the Indian Church entered into a close relationship with the Persian or East Syrian Church. From the Persians, the Indians inherited East Syriac language, popularly called as Suriyanee, and East Syriac liturgy. Thus, the Christians of India from about the fourth century on were gradually came to be known as Syriac Christians.
In the sixteenth century, Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to bring the Syrian Christians under the throne of Roman Catholic Church and this led to a split in the community. Those who accepted Catholicism are the present Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara and Latin Catholics. Later Western Protestant missionaries came to Kerala and worked among Syrian Christians; That also created certain splits in the community.
In the seventeenth century, the Church came to a relationship with the Antiochene Church which again caused splits. As a result of this relationship the Church received West Syriac liturgy and practices.
The Church entered into a new phase of its history by the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912. Catholicate is the symbol of autocephaly and autonomy of our Church. The spiritual head of the Malankara Orthodox Church is thus the Catholicose of the East. In 1934, through the passing and adaption of the Constitution of the Church the Malankara Metropolitan becomes the Chief Administrative Authority of the Church.
At present the Church is using the West Syriac liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381) and Ephesus (A.D. 431).
The Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches namely, Antiochene, Coptic (Alexandrian), Armenian, Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. The Church is in good ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.
At present the Church has over 2 million faithful with 24 dioceses all over the world.
Catholicate of the East:
The word ‘Catholicos’ means “the Universal Father or Head”. It can be considered as equivalent to “universal Bishop”. This title and rank is much more ancient than the title Patriarch in the church parlance.
In the ministry of the early church there were only three ranks namely; Episcopos (Bishop), Priest and Deacon. By the end of the third century or by the beginning of the fourth century certain bishops of certain important cities or provincial capitals in the Roman Empire gained pre- eminence than other bishops and they came to be known as Metropolitans. The Ecumenical councils of Nicea in 325 recognized the authority of these Metropolitans.
By the fifth century the Bishops in major cities like Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch etc. gained control over the churches in the surrounding cities. Gradually they became the heads of each independent regional church and were called Patriarchs which means ‘common father’. The same rank in the Churches outside the Roman Empire was called Catholicos. There were three ancient Catholicates in the Church before the fifth century. They were the Catholicate of the East (Persia), the Catholicate of Armenia and the Catholicate of Georgia. None of these ranks and titles are the monopoly of any church. Any Apostolic and national church has the authority to declare and call its head, Catholicose, Pope, or Patriarch.
Even though the title Catholicose had not existed in India before the 20th century, the idea behind the Catholicate or Patriarchate as the head of a national independent Church was there from the early centuries and there was similar indigenous position or authority in the Indian Church. As we say that St. Peter was the first Pope of Rome, St. Thomas was the first Head or the Catholicos of India. As all other Apostles did, he also established Church in India and made a set up to continue its administration in India. That was the Apostolic authority existed in India throughout the centuries
In India, the position and authority of the Catholicose is a development and evolution in the history of the Church throughout the past centuries. The first stage of the apostolic ministry in the Malankara Church is from the time of St. Thomas till the middle of the fourth century when the authority of the Church was vested in the hands of the Archdeacon.
The second stage is the period of the reign of the Arcdeacons which started from the middle of the fourth century and lasted till the sixteenth century.
The third stage started when the archdeacon was elevated to the position of a Bishop by the community with the name Marthoma I in 1653.
Since then the head of the community was the Marthoma Metrans and later the position was developed to Malankara Metropolitan with more recognition, especially, with lot more power from the promulgation of the 1934 Constitution of the Church.
When in a religious turmoil the Patriarch of Antioch interfered and suspended the Malankara Metropolitan demanding complete surrender, in 1912 the Church consecrated the senior Metropolitan as the Catholicose and head of the Church.
Later, the temporal authority and powers of the Malankara Metropolitan and the spiritual authority of the Catholicose started to be invested in the same person and called the Catholicose cum Malankara Metropolitan. The Catholicose and Malankara Metropolitan is the head of the Holy Episcopal Synod, which takes the final decisions.
Historical development of Catholicate in India
Archdeacons
In India St.Thomas founded the church and appointed prelates to continue apostolic ministry in the church. It is believed that the prelates were appointed from four ancient families namely, Pakalomattom, Sankarapuri, Kalli, and Kaliankal. Gradually the Pakalomattom family gained prominence in the ministry and chief prelates of the community where hailed from that family. During the reign of Marthoma VIII, the metropolitan of the community in the early 19th century, the Madras government once asked him a review of the history of the Malankara church and gave him seventeen questions to answer. On the 20th of April 1812, he gave written answer to all the questions. The last question was about the position and authority of the Malankara Metropolitan in the church. In his answer, he said, that for 1308 years ie. from 335 CE Till the Coonan (Bent) Cress oath of 1653, the church was ruled by the Archdeacons of Pakalomattom family. The Metran or Malankara Metropolitan of the community was the continuation of the apostolic authority in the Malankara Church. Our historical evidences say that in the early time, the title of the head of the community was Archdeacon. Sometimes the title was known as the Archdeacon of whole India. In the native language it was usually called Jathikku Karthavyan. The Arch deacon of the community was the unquestioned social and political leader and he got even local soldiers under his command to protect himself and protect the interest of the community. The Archdeacon was the unquestioned leader of the community when the Portuguese arrived Malabar in the 16th century.
The Portuguese tried to bring the Archdeacon under their control. Through the Synod of Diampore (Udayamperur, 1599) they tried their best to control the Archdeacon and for a short period they brought him under the authority of the Roman Arch bishop. The community revolted against this through the Coonan (Bent) Cress oath of 1653.
Archdeacons as Bishop
After the Coonan (Bent) Cress oath of 1653 the Church ordained the Archdeacon as a bishop with the name Mar Thoma I. This ordination of the archdeacon as a bishop was a very important turning point in the history of the development of authority in the Malankara Church. All the powers of the century old Archdeaconate with some more spiritual authority was given to the Metropolitan when the Archdeacon was elevated to the position of a bishop.
The Marthoma Metrans continued in succession till the early 19th century with the names Mar Thoma I, II,etc. till Mar Thoma VIII. and they ruled the church from 1653 to 1816.
The spiritual as well as the administrative authority of the community were vested on the Mar Thoma Metrans during this period.
Malankara Metropolitan
In 1816 Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysius became a bishop and he got an approval letter known as the Royal Proclamation from the Travancore government to function as the Metropolitan of the community. Now onwards the head of the Church came to be known as Malankara Metropolitan. The position of the Malanakara Metropolitan in the 19th century is a growth from the position of the Marthoma Metrans. The power and authority of the Malanakara Metropolitan got more recognition than the power and authority of the Archdeacons and Marthoma Metrans because of some political changes in the country through the establishment of British Rule.
From 1816, Dionysius II, Dionysius III, Dionysius IV, Mar Athanasios and Dionysius V were the Malanakara Metropolitans in the 19th century. Among these Mar Athanasius and Mar Dionysius V exercised enormous spiritual as well as temporal powers inside and outside the community. Mar Dionysius V was the Malankara Metropolitan at the time of the Synod of Mulanthuruthy (1876). During the latter half of the 19th century there occurred a split in the community because of the works of the CMS missionaries and the reformation supported by them. This invited a closer interference of the Patriarch of Antioch.
To get over the difficulties caused by the reformation and to support Mar Dionysius V against the reformers the Church invited the Patriarch to come over to India. The Patriarch Peter III of Antioch came to Malankara in 1875. Instead of healing the division in the community the Patriarch tried to make use of the situation to establish his authority in the church by suppressing the authority of the Malanakra Metropolitan.
The Patriarch presided over the synod and directed its proceedings and took some decisions justifying the actions of the Patriarch in the Malankara Church. After the Synod, he divided the church into seven dioceses and consecrated six new bishops to rule each diocese. By these actions the Patriarch was trying to reduce the authorities of the Malankara Metropolitan.
The Consecration of Catholicose
When the Patriarch excommunicated mar Dionysius VI, there were two Patriarchs of Antioch; one was Abdulla who had powers according to the legal documents knows as Furman of the Turkish government and the other was Abdedmassiah who was senior and at the same time inactive at Turkey since the government withdrew his Furman.
Abdulla was the one who excommunicated the Malanakara Metropolitan Mar Dionysius. The Malankara Church contacted Abdedmassiah and invited him to Malankara. The patriarch came and presided over the meetings of the Episcopal Synod of the Malankara church that decided to consecrate a Catholicose for the Malankara Church. Mar Ivanios Metropolitan of the Kandanadu Diocese was unanimously proposed to the post of Catholicose.
On 15th September 1912, at the St. Marys Church founded by St.Thomas at Niranam, Mar Ivanios Metropolitan was consecrated with the name Mar Baselios Paulose First as the first Catholicose of Malankara Church. The chief celebrant of the consecration ceremony was the Patriarch Mar Abdedmassiah himself. After the consecration, the Patriarch issued two bulls declaring the importance, privileges, powers and functions of the Catholicose.
All the authorities and privileges enjoyed by the Patriarch in the Church as its head was given to the Catholicose also.
By the consecration of the Catholicose the Indian Church asserted and declared its full autonomy and became a full autocephalous (having its own head) Church.
After the demise of the Catholicose Baselicose Paulose I, the Bishops in Malankara together with Mar Dionysius VI consecrated Mar Philoxenos of Vakathanam as the second Catholicos with the name Baselius Geevarghese I. When he died in 1928, Mar Gregorios was elected as his successor. He was consecrated by the Indian Bishops in February 13, 1929 with the title Baselius Geevarghese II .
The Patriarchal group questioned the validity of the Catholicate in law courts and the litigation went on up to the Supreme court. In September 12, 1958, the constitutional bench of the supreme court of India recognized the validity of the Catholicate and unanimously declared that the Patriarch of Antioch does not have any authority over the Malankara church and that the Indian church is completely free under the Catholicos of the East. Without doubt the judgment stated that all the parishes and properties of the Malankara church are under the authority of the Catholicos.
Moved by the final judgment of the Supreme Court of India, the Patriarch’s group unanimously recommended to the Patriarch Ignatius Yacob III to accept the Catholicos as the head of the Indian church. In December 1958, the Patriarch and the Catholicos subjected to the constitution of the Malankara church and accepted each other by exchanging letters.
The peace in the Indian Orthodox church which started with the mutual acceptance of the Catholicos and the Patriarch continued without much problem till the demise of the Catholicose Geevarghese II in 1964. The Malankara Association (representative body for the church) elected Mar Augen Thimothios as the next Catholicose, according to the constitution of the church, the Syrian Patriarch who was on friendly terms with the Malankara church, was also invited officially to participate in the consecration of the Catholicose. The Patriarch accepted the invitation of the Malankara church and came down to India and co-operated with the Malankara synod to consecrate the Catholicose. Conclusion
In all the Churches the position of the Patriarch or the Catholicose was a development of authority in their history. In Rome, Alexandria, Antioch and Constantinople and in the Persian Church it achieved almost full development and recognition in the 4th century itself. Jerusalem became a Patriarchate at the council of Chalcedone in 451. The Georgian and Armenian Catholicose were also developed in the same period.
The Patriarchate was developed in Russian Orthodox Church between 1448 and 1589. In Rumenia it was established in 1885. The Serbian Patriarchate was established in 1879 and the Bulgarian patriarchate was established in 1883. The patriarchate of Ethiopia was established in 1958 only. It happened in the Malankara Orthodox Church in 1912.
The Catholicate in India was a growth and development through centuries within the Malankara Church. Of course, the developments in other churches like Persia, Antioch Rome and external interference’s has influenced the growth in different stages.
It should always be considered as a symbol of Apostolic origin, authority and heritage as well as nationality and independence of the Malankara Orthodox Church. Throughout centuries the Metropolitan heads of the Thomas Christians were known as the apostolic successors of St. Thomas, the founder of the Indian church. The Vatican Syriac codex 22 written in 1301 at Kodungalloor refers to the Metropolitan of the church as “The Metropolitan Bishop of the See of St. Thomas, and of the whole church of Christians in India”. The church always asserted that St. Thomas had his apostolic throne in India as St. Peter had it in Rome or Antioch. When the Catholicate was established the catholicose as the head of the Malankara church, took the title “The successor of the Apostolic throne of St. Thomas”.