Jacobite Syrian Christian Church


The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Christian Church, also known as the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church of India, is an autonomous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Indian state of Kerala, and is an integral branch of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Ignatius Aphrem II seated in the Cathedral of Saint George, Bab Tuma, Damascus, Syria, as its Supreme Head. It functions as a largely autonomous unit within the church, under the authority of the Catholicos of India, Baselios Thomas I. Currently, this is the only church in Malankara which has a direct relationship with the Syriac Christians of Antioch, which has continued from after the schism and they continue to employ the West Syriac Rite Liturgy of Saint James. The faction of the Malankara Church that gained autocephaly in 1912, became the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, and are an autocephalous church in the Oriental Orthodoxy communion.

History

It is believed that Saint Thomas Christians of Malabar were in communion with the Church of the East from 295 to 1599. They received episcopal support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships along the spice route, while the local leader of the Saint Thomas Christians held the rank of Archdeacon; it was a hereditary office held by the Pakalomattam family. In the 16th century, the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into Latin Rite Catholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community due to Portuguese colonialists, and the establishment of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Malankara Church factions. Since then, further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several factions.
Saint Thomas Christians were administratively under the single native dynastic leadership of an Archdeacon and were in communion with the Church of the East, centered in Persia, from at least 496. The indigenous Church of Malabar/Malankara followed the faith and traditions handed over by the Apostle St. Thomas. During the 16th century, the Portuguese Jesuits began deliberate attempts to annex the native Christians to the Catholic Church, and in 1599 they succeeded through the Synod of Diamper. Resentment against these forceful measures led the majority of the community under the Archdeacon Thomas to swear an oath never to submit to the Portuguese, known as the Coonan Cross Oath, in 1653. The Malankara Church consolidated under Mar Thoma I welcomed Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, who regularized the canonical ordination of Mar Thoma as a bishop.
Meanwhile, the Dutch East India Company defeated the Portuguese and gained supremacy over the spice trade in Malabar in 1663. The Malankara church used this opportunity to escape from Catholic persecution with the Dutch East India Company's help. At the request of the Malankara Church, the Dutch brought Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of Jerusalem, a bishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, in their trading vessel in 1665. Mar Thoma I forged a relationship with the Syriac Orthodox Church and gradually adopted West Syriac liturgy and practices.
As part of the Syriac Orthodox communion, the church uses the West Syriac liturgy and is part of the Oriental Orthodox group of churches. It has dioceses in most parts of India as well as in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the Persian Gulf, Australia and New Zealand nations. In 2003 it was estimated that the church has 1,000,000 members globally.
This church uses the Peshitta, Vishudhagrandham, translated by Arch-corepiscopos Curien Kaniamparambil, as its scripture.

Headquarters

is the headquarters of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian orthodox Church in India Registered as a cSociety under Societies act of Govt. of India. Its headquarters is named after the illustrious Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas. The property was bought and built under the leadership of the Catholicos of India Baselios Thomas I, after the church faced difficulties in continuing its functioning from its base at Muvattupuzha with the demise of Catholicos Baselios Paulose II.
is an ecclesiastical office in the Syriac Orthodox Church, the head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in Kerala, India. He is the Catholicos/Maphrian of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church an autonomous body within the Syriac Orthodox Church, and functions at an ecclesiastical rank second to the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. The jurisdiction of the Syriac Orthodox Catholicos is limited to India and Indian diaspora.
The Catholicos of India position was created in 20th century in Syriac Orthodox Church, amid a series of splits within the local Malankara Church and the broader Syriac Orthodox communion that divided the community into rival Malankara Orthodox faction and Jacobite pro-autonomous faction. It was instituted to provide a regional head for Jacobite Syrian Church, the faction that remained closely aligned with the Patriarch of Antioch. The position had remained vacant between 1996 and 2002.
The current Catholicos of India is Baselios Thomas I. He was enthroned as the Catholicos by Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, in a ceremony held in Damascus, Syria on 26 July 2002. He is the second Indian Maphrian and Catholicos of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India and former Metropolitan Trustee of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.

List of Catholicoi of India

The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church has the following dioceses

Archdioceses (Autonomous)

There are Archdioceses under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch:
  1. Knanaya Archdiocese
  2. #Region of Chingavanam
  3. #Region of Kallisseri
  4. #Region of Ranni
  5. #Region of USA, Canada and Europe
  6. Malankara Archdiocese of North America
  7. Malankara Archdiocese of Europe
  8. #Patriarchal Vicarate of Ireland
  9. #Patriarchal Vicarate of UK
  10. #Patriarchal vicarate of Germany & Central Europe

    Dioceses in Kerala

  11. Kollam Diocese
  12. Thumpamon Diocese
  13. Niranam Diocese
  14. Kottayam Diocese
  15. Idukki Diocese
  16. Kandanad Diocese
  17. Kochi Diocese
  18. Angamaly
  19. #Angamaly Region
  20. #Perumbavoor Region
  21. #Pallikkara Region
  22. #Muvattupuzha Region
  23. #Kothamangalam Region
  24. #Highrange Region
  25. Thrissur Diocese
  26. Kozhikode Diocese
  27. Malabar Diocese

    Dioceses in the rest of India

  28. Mangalore Diocese
  29. Bangalore Diocese
  30. Mylapore Diocese
  31. Bombay Diocese
  32. New Delhi Diocese

    Dioceses Outside India (Autonomous)

  33. Middle East Diocese - Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
  34. Australia & New Zealand
  35. Singapore & Malaysia

    Other Dioceses (Autonomous)

There are dioceses under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch.
  1. Honavar Mission
  2. E.A.E Churches
  3. Simhasana Churches

    Present Synod

The Synod of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church comprises:

Major Shrines

Bishops of the church