The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church or Edtha Qatholiqi d'Malabar Suryaya, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO).Catholic-Hierarchy.org - Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of the Chaldean TraditionGCatholic.org - Syro-Malabar Church (Eastern-Rite sui juris Catholic Church) The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. It is the largest Syriac Christian church and the largest Eastern Catholic church. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac liturgy and origins in Malabar (modern Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu). The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.St. Raphael Syro Malabar Catholic Mission of Cleveland (2014)
The Syro-Malabar Church is primarily based in India: along with five metropolitan archeparchies and ten suffragan eparchies in Kerala, there are 4 Archeparchies and 13 eparchies in other parts of India, and also four eparchies outside India. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops, canonically convoked and presided over by the major archbishop, constitutes the supreme authority of the church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. It is the largest among Saint Thomas Christians communities, with a population of 2.35 million in Kerala as per the 2011 Kerala state census and 4.53 million worldwide as estimated in the 2023 Annuario Pontificio. It is the second largest sui iuris church within the communion of the Catholic Church, second in scale only to the Latin Church.
The Syro-Malabar Church traditionally links its origins to Thomas the Apostle's evangelization efforts in 1st-century AD India.George Menachery (1973) The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, Ed. George Menachery, B.N.K. Press, vol. 2, , Lib. Cong. Cat. Card. No. 73-905568; B.N.K. Press – (has some 70 lengthy articles by different experts on the origins, development, history, culture... of these Christians, with some 300 odd photographs).Leslie Brown, (1956) The Indian Christians of St. Thomas. An Account of the Ancient Syrian Church of Malabar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1956, 1982 (repr.)Thomas Puthiakunnel, (1973) "Jewish colonies of India paved the way for St. Thomas", The Saint Thomas Christian Encyclopedia of India, ed. George Menachery, Vol. II., Trichur. The earliest recorded organised Christian presence in India dates to the 6th century, when Persian missionaries of the East Syriac Rite tradition of the Church of the East, established themselves in modern-day Kerala and Sri Lanka.Frykenberg, pp. 102–107; 115. The Church of the East shared communion with the Roman Imperial Church, within Nicene Christianity, until the Council of Ephesus in the 5th century, separating primarily over differences in Christology and for political reasons. The Syro-Malabar Church uses a variant of the East Syriac Rite, which dates back to 3rd century Edessa, Upper Mesopotamia.Addai and Mari, Liturgy of. Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Oxford University Press. 2005 Hence, it is a part of Syriac Christianity by liturgy and heritage.
After the schism of 1552, a portion of the Church of the East entered communion with the Holy See of Rome, forming what became the modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church. Throughout the later half of the 16th century, the Malabar Church was under Chaldean Catholic jurisdiction as the Archdiocese of Angamaly. Through the Synod of Diamper of 1599, the Chaldean jurisdiction was abolished and the Malabar Church was reorganized as the Archdiocese of Cranganore and made subject to the Padroado Latin Catholic Primatal Archbishopric of Goa. In 1653, after a half-century of administration under the Padroado missionaries, the local Christians revolted and took the Coonan Cross Oath. In response, Pope Alexander VII, with the help of Carmelite missionaries, was by 1662 able to reconcile the majority of dissidents with the Latin Catholic Church under Bishop Parambil Chandy, the native Apostolic vicar of Malabar.Stephen Neill, A History of Christianity in India: The Beginnings to AD 1707, pp. 326–27, Cambridge University Press, 1984 During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Archdiocese of Cranganore remained under the Syro-Malabar, but it was later suppressed and integrated into the modern day Latin Archdiocese of Verapoly.
After more than two centuries under the hegemony of the Latin Church, in 1887 Pope Leo XIII fully emancipated the Syro-Malabars, though the Archdiocese of Verapoly remained as the jurisdiction for Latin Catholics. He established two Apostolic Vicariates for Syro-Malabar, Thrissur and Changanassery (originally named Kottayam), and in 1896, the Vicariate of Ernakulam was erected as well, governed by indigenous Syro-Malabar bishops. In 1923, the Syro-Malabar hierarchy was organized and unified under Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See, with Augustine Kandathil as the first head and archbishop. Consequently, the Syro-Malabar Church became an autonomous sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church.
The Syro-Malabars are unique among Catholics in their inculturation with traditional Indian customs through Saint Thomas Christian heritage. The Saint Thomas Christian community has been described as "Indian in culture, Christian in faith and Syriac in liturgy". The church is predominantly of the Malayali ethnic group who speak Malayalam, although there are a minority of Tamils, Telugus, and North Indians from the various eparchies outside Kerala. Following emigration of the church's members, eparchies have been established in other parts of India and in other countries to serve especially the diaspora living in the Western world. There are four eparchies outside of India, located in English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and United States. Saint Alphonsa is the church's first canonized saint, followed by Saint Kuriakose Chavara, Saint Euphrasia, and Saint Mariam Thresia. The Syro-Malabar Church is one of the two Eastern Catholic Churches in India, the other being the Malankara Catholic Church, which represents the faction of the Puthenkoor that entered into full communion with the Holy See in 1930.
History
Pre-Coonan Cross Oath
It is believed that the Saint Thomas Christians in Malabar came into contact with the Persian Church of the East in the middle of the 4th century. Saint Thomas Christians looked to Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East for ecclesiastical authority. Although the bishops from the Middle East were the spiritual rulers of the church, the general administration of the Church of Kerala was governed by the indigenous Archdeacon. The Archdeacon was the head of Saint Thomas Christians. Even when there were more than one foreign bishop, there was only one Archdeacon for the entire community.
The Church of the East Patriarch Shemon VII Ishoyahb's unpopularity led to the schism of 1552, due to the patriarchal succession being hereditary, normally from uncle to nephew. Opponents appointed the monk Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa as a rival patriarch. Sulaqa's subsequent consecration by Pope Julius III (1550–1555) saw a permanent split in the Church of the East; and the reunion with Catholic Church resulted in the formation of the modern-day Chaldean Catholic Church of Iraq.
Thus, parallel to the "traditionalist" (often referred as Nestorian) Patriarchate of the East, the "Chaldean" Patriarchate in communion with Rome came into existence. Following the schism, both traditionalist and Chaldean factions began sending their bishops to Malabar. Abraham of Angamaly was one among them. He first came to India in 1556 from the traditionalist patriarchate. Deposed from his position in 1558, he was taken to Lisbon by the Portuguese, escaped at Mozambique and left for his mother church in Mesopotamia, entered into communion with the Chaldean patriarchate and Rome in 1565, received his episcopal ordination again from the Latin patriarch of Venice as arranged by the Pope Pius IV (1559–1565) in Rome. Subsequently, Abraham was appointed by Pope as Archbishop of Angamaly, with letters to the Archbishop of Goa and the Bishop of Cochin.
In 1597, Abraham of Angamaly died. The Catholic Portuguese padroado Archbishop of Goa, Aleixo de Menezes, downgraded the Angamaly Archdiocese into a suffragan diocese of the Archdiocese of Goa and appointed the Jesuit Francisco Ros as Bishop of Angamaly. Menezes held the Synod of Diamper in 1599 to bring the Saint Thomas Christians under the complete authority of the Latin Church.
Coonan Cross Oath
The oppressive rule of the Portuguese padroado eventually led to a revolt in 1653, known as the Coonan Cross Oath. The Thomas Christians including their native priests assembled in the church of Our Lady at Mattancherry near Cochin, formally stood before a crucifix and lighted candles and solemnly swore an oath upon the Gospel that they never again accept another European prelate.Eugene Cardinal Tisserant, "Eastern Christianity in India" The exact wording used in Coonan Cross Oath is disputed. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of Latin Catholics.
Post-Coonan Cross Oath After the Coonan Cross Oath, the leaders of Saint Thomas Christians assembled at Edappally, where four senior priests Anjilimoottil Itty Thommen Kathanar of Kallisseri, Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar of Kuravilangad, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar of Kaduthuruthy and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar of Angamaly were appointed as advisors of the Archdeacon. On 22 May 1653, at a general meeting held in Alangad, twelve priests laid hands on Archdeacon Thoma, proclaiming him bishop. After the consecration of Thoma I, The information about this consecration was then communicated to all the churches. The vast majority of churches accepted Thoma I as their bishop.
At this point of time, Portuguese authorities requested direct intervention of Rome and hence Pope sent Carmelite Missionaries in two groups from the Propagation of the Faith to Malabar headed by Fr. Sebastiani and Fr. Hyacinth. Fr. Sebastiani arrived first in 1655 and began to speak directly with the Thoma I. Fr. Sebastiani, with the help of Portuguese, gained the support of many, especially with the support of Palliveettil Chandy, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar. These were the three of the four counselors of Thoma I, who had defected with Francisco Garcia Mendes, Archbishop of Cranganore, before the arrival of Sebastaini, according to Jesuit reports.
The Carmelite missionaries succeeded in convincing a group of St.Thomas Christians that the consecration of Archdeacon as bishop was not legitimate and Thoma I started losing his followers. In the meantime, Sebastiani returned to Rome and was ordained as bishop by Pope on 15 December 1659. Between 1661 and 1662, out of the 116 churches, the Carmelites claimed 84 churches, leaving the native archdeacon Thoma I with 32 churches. The 84 churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has descended.Catholic Encyclopedia profile of "St. Thomas Christians" – The Carmelite Period