The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite.
The Syriac Orthodox Church, also known as West Syriac Church or West Syrian Church, officially known as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and informally as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox church that branched from the Church of Antioch. The bishop of Antioch, known as the patriarch, heads the church and possesses apostolic succession through Saint Peter, according to sacred tradition. The church upholds Miaphysite doctrine in Christology, and employs the Liturgy of Saint James, associated with James the Just. Classical Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the church.
Syriac Christianity is a branch of Eastern Christianity of which formative theological writings and traditional liturgies are expressed in the Classical Syriac language, a variation of the old Aramaic language. In a wider sense, the term can also refer to Aramaic Christianity in general, thus encompassing all Christian traditions that are based on liturgical uses of the Aramaic language and its variations, both historical and modern.
Kothamangalam is a municipality at the foot of the Western Ghats in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located 41 km (25.5 mi) east of the district collectorate in Thrikkakara and about 218 km (135.5 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kothamangalam has a population of 38,837 people, and a population density of 969/km2 (2,510/sq mi).
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India, is an autonomous Maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch based in Kerala, India and a part of the Oriental Orthodox Communion. It is administered by the Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicos-Elect, Gregorios Joseph, under the spiritual authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius Aphrem II the supreme hierarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church.
Mor Themotheos Thomas is the Metropolitan of Kottayam Diocese and Secretary to the Holy Episcopal Synod of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. Mor Themotheos Thomas was ordained as the Metropolitan of the Outside Kerala Diocese on 3 January 1991 by Mor Baselios Paulose II Catholicos of the East .
Mor AphremMathews is a Syriac Orthodox bishop and the Metropolitan of the Perumbavoor region of the Angamali diocese.
Christianity is the third-largest practiced religion in Kerala, accounting for 18% of the population according to the 2001 Indian census. According to traditional accounts, Thomas the Apostle sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD and introduced Christianity to the area. Although a minority, the Christian population of Kerala is proportionally much larger than that of India as a whole. A significant portion of the Indian Christian population resides in the state.
Paulos Gregorios, born Paul Varghese or Vargīsa Pôla, was the first metropolitan of the Delhi diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and served for over two decades.
Samuel Mar Philexinose was the first bishop of the Malabar Diocese of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
Sir Dr. Mor Athanasious Eliyas is a Syriac Orthodox bishop. As of 2012 he is Metropolitan of Thrissur diocese,the Patriarchal vicar of Singapore, President of Antiochean Faith Movement in India and Vicar General of the St. Athanasius Cathedral at the Puthencuriz.
Mor Theophilos Kuriakose is a Syriac Orthodox bishop of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. As of 2013 he was the resident Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary, Udayagiri and the Metropolitan of the Malankara dioceses of Germany.
Angamali Diocese is the largest of the 12 dioceses of Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala. Angamali Diocese was formed in the historic synod of Mulanthuruthy in 1876 and has been the major center of Jacobites through the ages. Metropolitan of the Diocese is HB Baselios Thomas I Catholicose.
E. A. E St. Mary's Soonoro Syriac Orthodox Church, Meenangadi, is a Marian Pilgrim center of the Syriac Orthodox Church located at Meenangadi in Kerala, India. The church is under E.A.E Arch Diocese, the first missionary association of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and is currently under the direct control of Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In 2006, the church was elevated to the status of "Marian Pilgrim Centre", and in 2018, it celebrated its diamond jubilee. It is the first church to adopt the 8 Day Lent in Malabar Region.
Mor Polycarpus Geevarghese (1933–2011) was the Metropolitan of Evangelistic Association Of The East and Honnavar Mission of Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
Malankara Malpan Arch Corepiscopa Curien (Kurian) Kaniyamparambil was a priest in the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church and a scholar of the Syriac language, who translated the Bible from the Syriac Peshitta text to Malayalam. This is the official bible used by Syriac Orthodox Church in India.
Mor Alexandrios Thomas, formerly Thomas Abraham Neriyanthara, is the Metropolitan of Mumbai Diocese of Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church. A popular priest in the state, he was ordained in 2004 and consecrated in 2012 by Baselios Thomas I.
Saint Coorilos Paulose of Panampady, also known as Kochuparambil Thirumeni, or Panampady Thirumeni, was Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church in India from 1911 until his death in 1917. He was canonized in 2008 by Ignatius Zakka I.
Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Delegates of India or the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal delegate to the India is the representative of the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who is sent to India to guide and administer the church, or on special occasions, as the representative of the Holy See of Antioch.
Dietmar Werner Winkler is an Austrian scholar of patristics and ecclesiastical history. He is a professor and the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Christian East at the University of Salzburg.
