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Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church

Revision as of 06:56, February 3, 2008 by Manu Kuruvilla (talk | contribs)

History

Malankara Orthodox Church or simply Indian Orthodox Church is the oldest Christian community in India. It is believed to have established by Apostle Thomas in his journey to Indian in 52 AD.

Indian Church had connection with the Catholicate of East every since its establishment in 410 AD by then Patriarch of Antioch. Catholicate of East came under the Patriarch as an autonomous body of Orthodox body of Christianity within the Patriarchate of Antioch.

A group of Orhtodox Christians viewed that this Catholicate is only a deputy of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Another view was that the Catholicate is independent in its fucntional area, but is part of the Patriarchate.

this two views, conflicted each other since the re-establishment of Catholicate in India in 1912 AD. But the two Groups united each other recognising the Patriarch as the Spiritual leader and the Catholicos as the Supreme leader in Indian Churches.

When the church was united a group of old fraction supporting the Patriarch split again and establised a new Catholicate to compete with the United fraction of 1958. This newly split fraction under the leadership of present Catholicos His Beatitude Mor Baselius Thomas I, establised a new constitution for the church in 2002, following their loss in the verdict given by the apex court in India.

Many a times this dispute has led to law and problems in many churches in India. But still now, the Malankara jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church is not seperate from the Indian branch of autonomous Orthodox church. Dialogues and discussions exists from various corners for unification.

Leadership

The first hierarch of the Church is the Catholicos of the East. The current Catholicos is His Beatitude Mor Baselius Thomas I.

External links