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Malankara Mar Thoma Church

Malankara Church Mar Thoma


Local Name
Current primate	Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma
Headquarters	Tiruvalla, India
Primary territory	Kerala, South India
Rite	Western Syriac reformed
Language (s) liturgical (s)	Syriac , Malayalam
Estimated population	800 000
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The Church Malankara Mar Thoma Church and St. Thomas Malankara (in Malayalam : ) is a Church of Syriac or Syrian tradition of Kerala in India linked to the Anglican Church. It belongs to all the churches of India Eastern Christians of St. Thomas. The head of the Church carries the title of Metropolitan , with residence in Tiruvalla in the district of Pathanamthitta in Kerala (the present incumbent: His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Name

The Malankara Mar Thoma Church is also known by other names:

History

Main article: Church of Malabar.

Like most Christian churches of Kerala, the Church marthomite traces its origins to evangelization by St. Thomas 52 (this evangelization is considered available for many historians - but not confirmed - according to a second tradition, a Persian merchant Thomas of Cana, landed at Muziris with a bishop, several priests and Christians in 345 ). In 450 , it was attached to the Church of Seleucia -Ctesiphon, under the authority of the Patriarch of the Nestorian Babylon. From the ^fourteenth century , only the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon ( Nestorian ) would continue to send bishops in Malabar. When the Portuguese landed in Malabar in 1498 , they began to bring these heretics to Orthodoxy and established the Inquisition from 1560. The Malabar Christians who accept the authority of the Portuguese then form the Catholic Church Syro-Malabar (Syrian Rite East Latinized) - but they got the bishops of their rite in 1896 under pressure from the schism of Archbishop Mellus.

To cope with the humiliation they suffered on the part of Catholics (prohibition of saying Mass in Syriac was put in prison for priests, destruction of religious books), Christians are fleeing the ports. They are meeting on 3 January 1653 at the foot of the Coonen Cross in Cochin where they swear not to remain under the obedience of the Portuguese and Paulista. Six months later, the archdeacon Mar Thoma, is elected by the laying on of hands of twelve priests and do legitimize this election by the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch. Reconstituted itself and the Jacobite Church of Malabar (puttankuttukar, new assembly), which detached itself from the Catholic Church Syro-Malabar (palayakuttukar, former Assembly). The Jacobite Church will experience several schisms (in 1772 and 1910 ) in particular.

The influence of Protestant missions and the controversy between two Jacobite bishops, Mathew Mar Athanasius (who want to get closer to the Anglican rite) and Mar Dionysius Joseph and the trial that followed from 1879 to 1889 , led to a new schism. Supporters of Mar Mathew Athanasius then founded the Church marthomite (or Reformed Church Jacobite). This led a church active proselytism towards the lower castes. The navikaranakkar (reformers) are Rite West Syrian (Jacobite like) but consider themselves Anglicans. Since the late ^twentieth century , we are talking of uniting marthomite Church, the Church of South India (CSI) and the Church of North India (CNI). Currently, these churches are in communion. A minority of the Church marthomite seceded and created the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, by ordering two bishops by the laying on of hands of joint eighteen priests.