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Syro-Malabar Church

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Syro-Malabar Church
LanguageAramaic, Malayalam, English
HeadquartersKochi, Kerala
TerritoryIndia
PossessionsUnited Arab Emirates, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Malaysia, Germany, and Singapore etc.
FounderSt. Thomas the Apostle
IndependenceApostolic Era
RecognitionEastern Catholic
Official websiteSyro Malabar Catholic Church

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is a Major Archiepiscopal Church in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the 22 sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic Church. It is the largest group among the Saint Thomas Christians tracing their origins to St. Thomas the Apostle who came to India in AD 52. The Syro Malabar Church is the largest St Thomas Christian community in India.[1]

The Syro-Malabar Hierarchy was founded on 21 December 1923 with Ernakulam as its centre and its Major Archbishop as the Head.

History

Its earlier history is shrouded in obscurity. But the reality is that it was a flourishing Church and in Kerala, South India, St. Thomas had established Christian pockets in seven places viz. Kodungallur, Palayur, Kottakav, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Kollam and Nilakkal [citation needed].

From the 10th century BC the Jews had been doing business with these coastal regions and there were synagogues and colonies for the Jews in those places. Their trade language was Aramaic which had been the official language of the Persian ‘Empire from 5th century B.C.. Thomas Christians were known by different names as Marthoma Nazarani, Syrian Malabar Nasrani and Syrian Catholics. Their liturgical language was Syriac.

The special feature of the Thomas Christians is that they followed the liturgy of the Syrian Churches of Eastern rites. They were having hierarchical relationship with the East Syrian Church and kept up their own administrative system. A local priest leader called the Archdeacon was the head of the community, his authority and powers were wide-ranging.

The bishops who came from the East Syrian Church, were concerned with purely and exclusively spiritual. Essentially, Thomas Christians followed three distinct ways of activity in their religious sphere: their liturgy was of East Syrian Church; their culture was purely Indian. They had their own style of life: austere and humble way of life with high thinking; their governance of Church was through Palliyogam, Synod, etc. as is prevalent in Oriental Churches.

It was only when the Portuguese missionaries arrived in the first half of the 16th century and began to interfere under the Padroado agreement with the Holy See that things took a turn for the worse. They suspected the Indian Christians of heresy and schism and wanted to introduce the Latin customs and Latin manner of ecclesiastical administration, severing the East Syrian connection, which according to them was the source of heresy and schism. Their efforts sowed seeds of disunity and division in the Indian Church which led to further divisions and disunity and as a result the once united Indian Church, the Church that was in full communion with the See of Peter ended up in various denominations. This is the case today.

The Present Syro-Malabar Church is only a fraction of the ancient Indian Church of the Thomas Christians. The disunity within the Church and the suspicion of schism prevented the creation of a common head in line with the tradition of Syrian Easter Churches. It was a period of crisis and to a great extent the Church overcame that crisis by the strong faith and commitment of its forefathers.

When Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese missionaries arrived in India in 1498 they found no Christians in the country except in Malabar. And the Christians they found were St. Thomas Syrian Christians. Syrian Christians were friendly to Portuguese missionaries at first; but later, due to certain differences mainly in the liturgy, the relations between them became more and more strained.

St Thomas Christians remained in communion with the Church of the East until their encounter with the Portuguese in 1498.With the establishment of Portuguese power in parts of India, clergy of that nationality, in particular certain members of the Society of Jesus, attempted to Latinize the Indian Christians.

Portuguese started a Latin diocese in Goa (1534) and another at Cochin (1558) in the hope of bringing the Thomas Christians under their jurisdiction. In a Goan Synod held in 1585 it was decided to introduce the Latin liturgy and practices among the Thomas Christians. In the Synod of Diamper of 1599 the Portuguese Archbishop, Don Alexis Menezes succeeded in appointing a Latin bishop to govern the Thomas Christians. The Portuguese padroado was extended over them.

The Portuguese refused to accept the legitimate authority of the Indian hierarchy and its relation with the East Syrians and at a synod held in Diamper in 1599, the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa imposed a large number of Latinizations. St.Thomas Christians came under a forced communion with Rome.From 1599 up to 1896 these Christians were under the Latin Bishops who were appointed either by the Portuguese Padroado or by the Roman Congregation of Propaganda Fide. Every attempt to resist the latinization process was branded by them heretical. Under the indigenous leader, archdeacon, the Thomas Christians resisted, but the result was disastrous.

The first solemn protest place in 1653 with the Koonan Cross Oath. Under the leadership of archdeacon Thoma a section of the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath that they would not obey the Portuguese bishops and the Jesuit fathers. In 1665 an Antiochean bishop called Mar Gregorios arrived in India and the dissident group under the leadership of the archdeacon welcomed him.

This was the starting point of division among the Syrian Christians who till then were one Church. Though most of the Thomas Christians gradually relented in their strong opposition to the Western control, the arrival of the Bishop Mar Gregory of the Syriac Orthodox Church in 1665 marked the beginning of a formal schism among the Thomas Christians. Those who accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of Mar Gregory became known as the New Party (Puthankuttukar).Today they constitute a number of individual churches mainly and Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church (Jacobite), Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Indian Orthodox Church), Marthoma Church, Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

The Old Party (Pazhayakuttukar) remained in communion with Rome and constitutes the Syro-Malabar Church.

Liturgy

The Syro-Malabar Church kept the liturgy that was in use before the arrival of the Portuguese, but increasingly Latinized it. The St. Thomas Christians especially the Syro Malabar Church in India were under the hierarchy of the Latin Church from 1600 to 1896. Since the beginning, Syro-Malabar liturgy was in Syriac and went through Latinization like many other churches in the 16th century. The vestments, the church furnishings, the place of certain prayer formulas in the Mass, the administration of the sacraments, etc. were thoroughly Latinized while the liturgy continued in Syriac. Syriac language which was used in church worship until 1968. In the second half of 20th century, there was a movement for better understanding of the liturgical rites. A restored eucharistic liturgy, drawing on the original East Syrian sources, was approved by Pope Pius XII in 1957 and for the first time on the feast of St. Thomas on July 3, 1962, the vernacular, Malayalam, was introduced for the celebration of the Syro-Malabar rite Mass.

Currently they celebrate the Divine Liturgy of Addai and Mari in Malayalam, Syriac and English.

Nestorian and Syro-Malabar

The Christians on this coast always courteously received any bishops who came to them from over the seas and even made use of these to ordain or consecrate, but it does not follow that they always accepted the doctrines taught by these bishops.

Also, historians have been too ready to regard any Asiatic bishop as a Nestorian but the bishops who came to this coast may have been Catholics. There always was a tendency among the Nestorian bishops to make overtures to Rome and on three or four occasions there was an actual reconciliation with Rome. When the Portuguese came they were very ignorant of Oriental Churches and did not understand the position of the Syrians, but Francis Xavier praised Jacob as a Catholic and the next two bishops, Mar Joseph and Mar Abraham were in open communion with the Holy See, so that before the diocesan Synod of Diamper the Syrian Church at Malabar was in union with Rome

When pope Julius III on April 6th 1553 confirmed John Sulacca as Chaldean Patriarch, the Pope said that the discipline and liturgy of the Chaldeans had already been approved by his predecessors, Nicholas I (858- 867), Leo X (1513-1521) and Clement VII (1523-1534).

This Papal letter also mentions the former Patriarch, Simon Mamma, of good memory, as Patriarch of the Christians in Malabar.

This shows that there were from time to time Chaldean Patriarchs in communion with Rome and it is contended that the Thomas-Christians of Malabar were in communion with these Chaldean Patriarchs and not with the Nestorian Patriarch.

When the Portuguese arrived here they inaccurately called the four bishops Nestorians but these bishops were Chaldean.

Their report of 1504 was addressed to the Chaldean Patriarch, else how did it find its way into the Vatican Library?

The Portuguese were startled by the absence of images and by the use of leavened bread, but these two points are in accordance with Chaldean usage.

The Thomas-Christians paid the expenses of Marignoli because he was Papal Delegate. [2]

St. Francis Xavier in a letter from Cochin to St. Ignatius Loyola, dated 14th January 1549, asks for Indulgences for certain churches, saying, "This would be to increase the piety of the natives who are descended from the converts of St. Thomas and are called Christians of St. Thomas." In another letter dated 28th January 1549 to Rodriguez, St. Francis Xavier asks for indulgences for a church at Cranganore, "which is very piously frequented by the Christians of St. Thomas, to be a consolation for these Christians and to increase piety."

As saints are notoriously keen in detecting heresy and as indulgences cannot be granted to schismatics, it is contended that these letters of St. Francis Xavier show that the Thomas-Christians were in communion with Rome, even before the arrival of Mar Joseph in 1555.

When the Portuguese deported Mar Joseph to Portugal it was not the Nestorian Patriarch but the Chaldean Patriarch who sent Mar Abraham to take his place. This appears from Action iii, Decree X of the third provincial council at Goa in 1585, which recites that Mar Abraham came as Archbishop of Angamale, with a letter from Pope Pius IV. Another point is that the letter which Pope Gregory XIII wrote on November 29th 1578 to Mar Abraham does not tell him to convert his flock, but to convert others, that is to say, those who were not Christians. [3]

Major Events from 1887

In 1887, Pope Leo XIII created for the Syro-Malabar faithful the first Vicariates of Kottayam and Trichur, but the Vicars Apostolic appointed for them were personally of the Latin Rite.

Then in 1896, when the two Vicariates were reorganized into the three Vicariates of Changanacherry, Ernakulam and Trichur, the Syro-Malabar Church received Vicars Apostolic of its own rite. In 1911 the Vicariate of Kottayam was recreated.

On 21 December 1923, Pope Pius XI through the constitution Romani pontifices established the Syro-Malabar Church as an autonomous particular Church with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See and Changanacherry, Kottayam, and Trichur as its suffragans. Mar Augustine Kandathil was appointed the first Head of the Syro-Malabar Church. On 18 November 1924 Mar Augustine Kandathil was installed Archbishop.

From 1953 onwards the Syro-Malabar Church and its jurisdiction was gradually extended in Kerala and beyond by means of division of the old dioceses and establishment of new exarchates and dioceses. The need for giving pastoral care to the emigrants of the Syro-Malabar Church necessitated establishment of the diocese of Tellicherry in 1953 and the territorial extension of the dioceses of Changanacherry and Trichur in 1955. Syro-Malabar Church exarchates were established in mission territories from 1962 onwards which later became dioceses. At present the Syro-Malabar Church has 4 ecclesiastical provinces and 25 dioceses in India with around 4 million of faithful.

On 16 December 1992, Pope John Paul II through the constitution Quae maiori raised the Syro-Malabar Church to the status of a Major Archiepiscopal Church and Mar Antony Cardinal Padiyara was appointed the first Major Archbishop, with the title of Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly. Archbishop Mar Abraham Kattumana was appointed Papal Delegate, with temporary powers of Major Archbishop, to complete the process. On 20 May 1993 Cardinal Antony Padiyara was installed as Major Archbishop.

On 18 December 1999 Mar Varkey Vithayathil was appointed Major Archbishop by Pope John Paul II. He was installed Major Archbishop on 26 January 2000.

Timeline

  • AD 52 Arrival of St. Thomas, the Apostle
  • 72 Martyrdom of St. Thomas the Apostle at Mylapore
  • 250-325 Bishops Mar David & Mar Yohannan ("Metropolitan of India")
  • 340-360 By the Thazhekad Sasanam the Nazranies granted special rights and privileges
  • 345 Arrival of Thomas of Cana at Kodungalloor
  • 9th century Chaldean Patriarch, Timeotheus I sends Bishop Mar Sapore(Kollam) Mar Proth (Kodungalloor).
  • May 20, 1498 Vasco da Gama's arrival
  • 1504 Bishop Mar Yacob (Kodungalloor)
  • June 6, 1542 Francis Xavier's preaching
  • 1555 Bishop Mar Joseph takes charge.
  • 1564 Mar Abraham appointed Archbishop of Angamaly (Pope Pius IV)
  • February 23,1565 Establishment of Archdiocese of Angamaly as Metropolitan see
  • 1597 Mar Abraham the last Syrian Bishop died.
  • June 20, 1599 Synod of Diamper
  • December 7,1603 Angamaly Synod
  • December 3,1609 Archdiocese of Kodungalloor established
  • December 22,1610 Archbishop Menezes of Goa restricts the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan of St. Thomas Christians from the north of Malabar to the south.
  • January 3, 1653, Coonan Cross Oath
  • December, 1647 Archbishop Garcia Appoints Fr. Jerome Furtado as Vicar General in place of the traditional Archdeacon
  • 1657 Bishop Sebastiani OCD takes charge
  • January 31, 1663 Fr. Alexander Palliveettil (Parambil) appointed the first Syrian Vicar Apostolic of Malabar.
  • June 29, 1704 John Ribeiro S. J. appointed Abp. of Kodungalloor (Padroado)
  • December 16,1782 Mar Joseph Kariyatty appointed Archbishop of Kodungalloor.
  • September 10, 1786 Archbishop Kariyatty dies. Paremmackal Thoma Kathanar Gubernador of the Archdiocese of Kodungalloor. This in which has been very difficult to deal with.
  • February 1, 1787 Angamaly Padiyola
  • June 8, 1861 Fr. Kuriakos Elias Chavara appointed Vicar General for Syrians.
  • 1865 Jurisdiction of East Syrian Patriarch over St. Thomas Christians terminated.
  • August 13, 1866 Establishment of Seminary at Puthenpally.
  • November 11, 1877 Bishop Marcellinus OCD appointed Bishop for the Syrians.
  • March 19, 1878 Bishop Marcellinus OCD.
  • 1886 The Metropolitan See of Kodungalloor - Angamaly - suppressed. St. Thomas Christians placed under the Vicar Apostolic of Varapuzha.
  • May 20, 1887 Two independent Vicariates of Kottayam and Trissur for Syrians; Bishops Lavigne and Medlycott.(Quod Jampridem, Leo XIII)
  • July 28, 1896 Vicariate of Ernakulam created, with territories from both Vicariates. Bishops Pazheparambil, Makkil, and Menachery (Quae Rei Sacrae, Leo XIII)
  • December 21, 1923 Establishment of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See and Mar Augustine Kandathil as the first Head and Archbishop of the Church (Romani Pontifices, Pope Pius XI).
  • 18 November 1924 Mar Augustine Kandathil installed Archbishop.
  • June 1, 1932 Establishment of Mangalapuzha Seminary.
  • 10 January 1956 Death of Archbishop Mar Augustine Kandathil.
  • July 3, 1962 Establishment of St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor.
  • December 16, 1992 Major Archiepiscopal see of Ernakulam-Angamaly created from the Archdiocese of Ernakulam.
  • January 29, 1993 Cardinal Antony Padiyara, the first Major Archbishop (Quae Majori Christifidelium ,John Paul II), Mar Abraham Kattumana, Pontifical Delegate.
  • May 20, 1993 Cardinal Padiyara takes charge. First Synod of the Church.
  • December 18, 1996 Cardinal Padiyara's resignation accepted. Archbishop Mar Varkey Vithayathil CSSR, Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
  • February 3, 1998 Major Archiepiscopal Headquarters at Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad.
  • November 9, 1998 First Major Archiepiscopal Assembly
  • July 6, 2001 In USA St. Thomas Diocese of Chicago established.

Mar Augustine Kandathil was the first Head of the Church, serving from 21 December 1923 when the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy was founded, until his demise.

Cardinal Varkey Mar Vithayathil is Major Archbishop of Ernakulam–Angamaly Archdiocese and the present Head of the Church.

Dioceses

Syro-Malabar Church has its presence all over the world. However the proper territory assigned for this Church is limited to India, specifically South India. There are 26 Syro-Malabar dioceses world wide though only 15 of them come under the direct control of the Major Archbishop. The rest of the dioceses are directly under the Pope and the Major Archbishop has only limited control over them.

Archdioceses

The believers of this church are organized under 5 Archdioceses. All five are in Kerala.

Dioceses

List of Prominent Syro-Malabar Catholics in History

Religious and Spiritual

Public Service

Literature and Media

Commerce & Industry

Arts, Entertainment & Sports

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Articles in St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia
  2. ^ Father Nidhiry: A History of His Times by Prof. Abraham Nidhiry
  3. ^ Life and Letters of St. Francis Xavier, by H.J. Coleridge, S.J., ii. 74 90.
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