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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 (MOSC), also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, and are an autocephalous (independent) church in the Oriental Orthodoxy communion. نطقب:Nasrani people

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 (a native ecclesiastical head with spiritual and temporal powers, deriving from Greek term arkhidiākonos) 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 (including Knanaya) members globally.

This church uses the Peshitta, Vishudhagrandham, translated by Arch-corepiscopos Curien Kaniamparambil, as its scripture.

Headquarters

Puthencruz 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.

• St. Athanasius Catholicate Cathedral, Puthencuriz
• JSC Publications, The official publishing house of the church are also a part of the large complex.
• Malankara Jacobite Syrian Sunday School Association (MJSSA) is also based in Puthencruz.
• St.Thomas College Arts and Science is also run in the premises of the Zakka centre.
• Michael Dionysius(M.D) Book Stall, official book house of Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.
• This is the place where Universal Malankara Convention, the official gospel convention of the community, that is generally conducted from 26 to 31 December of every year.

Catholicos of India

Catholicos of India 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 (pro-autocephalous) faction and Jacobite (patriarchal) 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 (date of death of Catholicos Baselios Paulose II) 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

• 1. Baselios Paulose II (1975–1996)
  • Vacant from 1996 to 2002
• 2. Baselios Thomas I (2002–present)

Saints of the Church

• Ignatius Elias III - Pathriach Of Antioch (Entombed in Manjanikkara Dayara at Omallur)
• Baselios Yeldo - Catholicos of Persia (Entombed in Kothamangalam cheria pally)
• Parumala Thirumeni (Geevarghese Gregorious, Entombed in Parumala Church)
• Paulose Athanasius - Methropolitian of Jacobite Syrian Church (entombed in Aluva Thrikkunnathu Seminary)
• Koorilos Paulose - Malankara Metropolitan (Entombed in Panampady Church)
• Koorilos Yuyakkim - Reesh-Episcopa of Malankara (Entombed in Mulanthuruthy Marthoman Church)
• Osthatheos Sleeba - Apostolic delegate of the Holy See to India (Entombed in Arthat St.Mary's Simhasana Church, Kunnamkulam)
• Baselios Sakralla III of Aleppo - Maphryono (entombed at Morth Mariam Cathedral, Kandanad)
• Gregorios Abdal Jaleel - Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Jerusalem (entombed at St. Thomas Church North Paravur)

Dioceses

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
   1. Region of Chingavanam
   2. Region of Kallisseri
   3. Region of Ranni
   4. Region of USA, Canada and Europe
2. Malankara Archdiocese of North America
3. Malankara Archdiocese of Europe
   1. Patriarchal Vicarate of Ireland
   2. Patriarchal Vicarate of UK
   3. Patriarchal vicarate of Germany & Central Europe

Dioceses in Kerala

1. Kollam Diocese
2. Thumpamon Diocese
3. Niranam Diocese
4. Kottayam Diocese
5. Idukki Diocese
6. Kandanad Diocese
7. Kochi Diocese
8. Angamaly (Largest Diocese)
   1. Angamaly Region
   2. Perumbavoor Region
   3. Pallikkara Region
   4. Muvattupuzha Region
   5. Kothamangalam Region
   6. Highrange Region
9. Thrissur Diocese
10. Kozhikode Diocese
11. Malabar Diocese

Dioceses in the rest of India

1. Mangalore Diocese
2. Bangalore Diocese
3. Mylapore Diocese (formerly Chennai Diocese)
4. Bombay Diocese
5. New Delhi Diocese

Dioceses Outside India (Autonomous)

1. Middle East Diocese - Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
2. Australia & New Zealand
3. Singapore & Malaysia

Other Dioceses (Autonomous)

There are dioceses under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Antioch.

1. Honavar Mission
2. E.A.E (Evangelistic Association Of The East) Churches
3. Simhasana Churches

Present Synod

The Synod of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church comprises:

Major Shrines

• St.Mary's Cathedral Kothamangalam

• St. Mary's Cathedral, Manarcad

• St. Ignatius Monastery, Manjinikkara

• St. Mary's Cathedral, Kundara

• St. Mary's Cathedral, Angamaly

• Mar Sabor and Mar Proth Church, Akaparambu

• St.Mary's Jacobite Syrian Cathedral, Kuruppampady

See also

• Catholicos
• List of Patriarchs of Antioch – to 518
• List of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch – list from 518
  • Catholicos of the East
  • Catholicos of India
  • Maphrian

Related

• Oriental Orthodox Church
• Saint Thomas Christians
• Manarcad church

المراجع

المصادر

• Alexander, George (2018). (3rd rev. ed.). OCP Publications.

وصلات خارجية

• Official website
• JSC News

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