Syrian Christians of Kerala

SYRIAN CHRISTIANS

St. Mary’s Orthodox Nirnam Church, Thiruvalla, Kerala

OF KERALA

As I am talking about family values, it is most important to look at where these, in my case, were derived from. 

I am a Syrian Christian by birth, but for reasons close to my personal views on humanity, I belong to no branch of any physical Christian Church or organised religion.

History of the Catholicate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Source http://mosc.in/catholicate/catholicate

In the early Christian church there were only three ranks:

1. Episcopos (Bishop), 

2. Priest and 

3. Deacon. 

By the end of the 300 AD, certain bishops of important cities in the Roman empire assumed a greater level than other bishops. They became called as Metropolitans. The Ecumenical Councils of 400 AD recognized the authority of these Metropolitans.

By 500 AD  Bishops in cities like Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control over the churches in the surrounding cities. They became the heads of each independent regional church and were called “Patriarch” 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 500 AD. They were the  Catholicate of the East (Persia), the Catholicate of Armenia and the Catholicate of Georgia. None of these ranks and titles were the monopoly of any church. Any Apostolic and national church had the authority to declare and call its head, Catholicose, Pope, or Patriarch.

Even though the title Catholicose had not existed in India before the 2000 AD 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 a similar native 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 the Church in India and made a set up to continue its administration in India.That was the Apostolic authority that existed in India throughout the centuries. In India the position and authority of the Catholicose is a development 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 Archdeacons 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 the Malankara Metropolitan with more recognition.

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.

In 1934, through the meeting of the Malankara Association  the authority  and powers of the Malankara Metropolitan was entrusted to the Catholicose. Thus both the spiritual and temporal authorities of the Church was vested in one person who is the Catholicose cum Malankara Metropolitan  and the development of authority in that direction was completed in the Church.

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 asked him for a review of the history of the Malankara church and gave him seventeen questions to answer. On the 20th of April 1812 he gave a 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 from 335 AD for 1308 years ie. till the coonan cross oath, the church was ruled by the  Archdeacons of  Pakalomattom family. He also said that after the coming of the Portuguese, the church had, besides him six Metrans and one Metropolitan. 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 entire India. In the native language it was usually called Jathikku Karthavyan. The Archdeacon of the community was the unquestioned social and political leader and he even had 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 Udayamperur (1599) they tried their level best to control the Archdeacon  and for a short period they brought him under the authority of the Roman Archbishop. The community revolted against this through the coonan cross oath of 1653.

The Archdeacon as Bishop

After the coonan cross oath 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 Archdeacon with some more spiritual authority was given to the  Archdeacon when he 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 Pulikottil Joseph Mar Dioysius 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. Then onwards the head of the  Church came to be known as Malankara Metropolitan.   The position of the Malankara Metropolitan in the 19th century is a growth from the position of the Marthoma Metrans.  The power and authority of the Malankara 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 Athanasios 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 later 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 here 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. He strongly stood with Mar Dionysius and  called the Synod of Mulanthuruthy. 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 way to Catholicate

    After the Synod of Mulanthuruthy  the Church became more  conscious about establishing a Catholicate (Maphrianate)  in the Malanakra Church mainly to avoid unnecessary interference of the Patriarch of Antioch in the internal affairs of the Church.

The Patriarch himself  directed the Synod of Mulanthuruthy and attained more powers through its decisions. He claimed he was the spiritual and temporal head of the Church. The Malankara Church which was in dire need of the Patriarch  to fight against the reformers, yielded to all  the demands of the Patriarch. The legal fights against the reformers ended up in the final judgment of the Travancore Royal court in 1889.

The Royal Court judgment was a success to both the Patriarch and Mar Dionysius V in various  aspects. The court declared that the Patriarch got spiritual supervisory powers over the Malankara Church. But it also declared that the Patriarch does not have any temporal authority in the Church.  The Patriarch was not satisfied about this decision.

The Patriarch used all his ways and means to establish his spiritual and temporal authority in the Church. Mar Dionysius V died in 1909 and Mar Dionysius VI became the Malankara Metropolitan.

When Mar Dionysius VI became the Malankara  Metropolitan, the Patriarch demanded a registered deed from Mar Dionysius VI declaring perfect allegiance to the patriarch. Mar Dionysius VI strongly refused to yield to the demands of the Patriarch. 

The Patriarch excommunicated Mar Dionysius VI on 31st May 1911. The excommunication of Mar Dionysius VI created lots of confusions and divisions in the Malankara Church. Most of the influential lay leaders and many clergy in the Church supported Mar Dionysius VI and stood firm with him. 

The Malankara Metropolitan was the supreme authority in the Church throughout the past years and the Patriarchs were always trying with all their means to exterminate that position from the Church. The Church clearly understood the intention of the Patriarch when he excommunicated Mar DionysisVI.

The consecration of the 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 Firman 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 Firman.

Abdulla was the one who excommunicated the Malankara Metropolitan  Mar Dionysius VI. 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  St. Mary's  Church founded by St. Thomas in  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 Kalpanas 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 Baselius 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 only in 1958. 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 interferences  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”.

In 2002, Charles Haviland published an article for BBC about Christians in India. In it he said that Christians are a minority ibn India, about 2%, but in the state of Kerala the Christian population is around 20%. The history of Christians in Kerala it said ,goes back 2050+ years. 

In 1962 the Government of India, on the visit of the Pope recognised this by publishing a Postage Stamp with the image of St. Thomas, known as Doubting Thomas to Christians as a recognition of this history. In releasing this stamp the details recorded are that his date of demise was 21st December 72 AD. His arrival in India is recorded as 52 AD. The location of his arrival is claimed to be Musiris (Cranganore) 

St. Thomas Indian Postage Stamp 1962                      Indian Postage Stamp 1972

Stamp Information: The Indian Posts and Telegraphs Department is issuing a special postage stamp in commemoration of Saint Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ, on the 2nd December 1964, which coincides with the arrival of His Holiness Pope Paul VI in India. A completely authentic historical account of life of St. Thomas Didymus, one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ, introduced Christianity into India. Experts generally agree that he took the northwestern route to India and arrived about 52 A.D. He then proceeded to the southern coast and preached the Christian faith among the people of South India. There are some ancient monuments in Southern India, which are connected with St. Thomas. Chief among these are the St. Thomas Mount where, it is said, he met his death and the San Thome Cathedral at Madras, which has been reacted on the spot where he was buried. The stamp is being issued in honour of St. Thomas is in the denomination of 15 Paise and carries a picture of his silver bust which is in the Ortona Cathedral in Italy. The P & T Department is happy to issue the St. Thomas stamp on the occasion of the first visit of His Holiness Pope Paul VI to India to attend the 38th International Eucharistic Congress, which is being convened at Bombay. SAN THOME CATHEDRAL, MYLAPORE MADRAS
Read more at http://mystampsofindia.blogspot.com/2012/09/stthomas-india-1964-15p-reddish-purple.html#ZoQVBg1mxMAmCUIW.99

In 1972, the Indian Government released another stamp to celebrate the 2000 year historical recognition of the death of St. Thomas.

The oldest church is India was set up by St. Thomas where there was an altar which was consecrated by St. Thomas. A church was built around the old church which had deteriorated with time and the new church is comsoderedd the site of where St. Thomas started his work in India.

St Thomas Church at Palyar in Trichur, Kerala

Christians are a minority but celebrations are big
by

Charles Haviland
BBC correspondent in southern India

Christians are a tiny minority in India - less than 3% of the population.

But in the southern, coastal state of Kerala, they number around 20%.

It is ironic that, while some parts of India are torn by violence between faiths, this ancient and unique stream of Christianity should be turning in on itself with a vengeance

Christians have lived and worshipped in Kerala for some 2,000 years but the last century has been marked by a bitter feud within the Church which has led to factional fighting.

Kranganor, on the coast of Kerala, is the cradle of Christianity in India where according to legend, St Thomas, or Doubting Thomas - one of the 12 apostles of Jesus - first came ashore in AD 52.

"This is the place where he landed, imparting the message of Jesus," says Father JB Putor, keeper of the shrine to Thomas.

Deep roots

St Thomas' Christian community was augmented in the fourth century by refugees from east Syria - now Iraq.

All Kerala Christians who trace their ancestry to these times call themselves Syrian Christians.

Some have become Catholic or Protestant in their outlook, others are Orthodox.

The melody played at the Holy Communion at the Orthodox Syrian Church of Cheriapoli, in central Kerala, is of ancient Syria.

So is the language used in some of the prayers - Syriac, very close to what Jesus himself spoke.

One of the congregation, Matthew Kurian, told me he was deeply attached to this link with the early Church.

"We are keeping the Syriac language as a basis.

"And Syriac is an important thing for us. There are many other Christians here - Latin Catholics, Roman Catholics. So we are proudly saying we are Syrian Christians," he said.

Hindu architecture

The Syrian Christians have always fitted in well with their Indian surroundings.

Many Church buildings strongly resemble Hindu temples including a carved teak porch, added to the old building at Cheriapoli.

"This porch is very like the Hindu temples in India. It is like work found in Kathmandu, in Nepal. It is actually made by Hindu carpenters," Mathew told me.

A poster of Jesus Christ

Kerala Christians are hoping for a peaceful Christmas

"In Kerala, we have to keep some more customs of the Hindus. Because almost all the people here are Hindus, and we are the minority people," he said.

The Orthodox Church in Kerala has excellent ties with Hindus and Muslims.

But the Church itself is split by a bitter feud between those still loyal to the Syria-based Patriarch and those who in 1912, under a local bishop, declared autonomy and set up their own spiritual leader.

Ninety years later, Father Joseph Corespiscopa, an 86-year-old priest from the faction loyal to the Patriarch, still cannot accept what that bishop did.

"He violated every principle of the Church. And so he was called an outcast. And his followers are called outcasts," said Father Joseph.

Divisions

The split remains deep.

Not only are the two sides at loggerheads over spiritual authority - recent disputes over ownership of Church buildings and property have caused factional violence, even deaths.

Father KM George, Principal of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kerala, comes from the autonomous faction of the Church.

"It's very tragic. None of us endorses such violence in our Church. We are ashamed of it. And I still hope reconciliation is possible, because in Kerala we are the same community. We're the same family," he says.

It is ironic that, while some parts of India are torn by violence between faiths, this ancient and unique stream of Christianity should be turning in on itself with a vengeance.

Ordinary congregations are simply praying that a spirit of reconciliation can prevail this Christmas.