Changanassery, also spelt Changanacherry, is a municipality in Kottayam district in Kerala, India. It is also the headquarters of the Changanassery Taluk. The town is spread over an area of 14.3 km2 (5.5 sq mi) and has a population of 47,685. Changanassery is located 17 km (11 mi) south of the district headquarters Kottayam and 117 km (73 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala, India. It is sui iuris (autonomous) particular Church in full communion with the Pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, including the Latin Church and the 22 other Eastern Catholic Churches, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Church is headed by the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar, currently George Alencherry. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the Church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac Rite liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
The Archeparchy of Changanacherry is a Syro-Malabar Catholic archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, and also Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the largest Catholic dioceses in India in terms of area. Joseph Perumthottam is the current Metropolitan Archbishop, serving since 2007. Thomas Tharayil has been the auxiliary bishop since 2017. Suffragan eparchies of the Changanassery archeparchy includes Palai, Kanjirappally-Nilackal, and Thuckalay-Thiruvithancode.
The Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly is the major archeparchy and the see of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It has been the major archeparchy since 1992 when the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church was elevated to the status of a major archiepiscopal church with Ernakulam-Angamaly as the primatal see. The major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly is the main bishop of the jurisdiction, at the same time the head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The eparchies of Kothamangalam and Idukki are the two suffragan eparchies of the major archeparchy.
The Syro Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Kanjirappally-Nilackal is a Syro-Malabar Catholic eparchy with an area of 1980 km2 comprising the Kanjirappally taluk in Kottayam district and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam district, northern Pathanamthitta district, and parts of Idukki district of central Kerala in South India.
Charles Lavigne, S.J. was a Catholic bishop of the Latin Church from France who was appointed as the first Vicar Apostolic in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Vicariate of Kottayam on 20 May 1887. After shifting the seat of Kottayam Vicariate to Changanacherry on 16 September 1890, his term ended on 28 July 1896. He later served as the first Bishop of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 27 August 1898 until his death at Marvejols in France on 11 July 1913.
Mathew Makil was the second Vicar Apostolic and the first indigenous Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam (Changanacherry), which is the Syro Malabar Archeparchy of Changanacherry today. Mathew Makil was also the first Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam, which is the Knanaya Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam today. In 1896, he became the Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Changanacherry, and in 1911, when a new Vicariate Apostolic of Kottayam was constituted exclusively for the Knanaya Catholics, Mathew Makil was transferred to Kottayam as its first Vicar Apostolic. He died at Kottayam on 26 January 1914 and he was declared as Servant of God on 26 January 2009.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam is a metropolitan Archeparchy of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. The Archeparchy is exclusively for Knanaya faithful who are the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 9th century.
Thomas Tharayil was an eparchial bishop of the Knanaya Catholic Eparchy of Kottayam, belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church. He was born in Kaipuzha, India. He is buried in Christ the King Cathedral Kottayam.
Kuriakose Kunnassery was a Syro-Malabar Catholic hierarch. He was the fourth bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam and the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kottayam. He served as priest in the Diocese of Kottayam for 13 years from December 21, 1955 to February 24, 1968. Then he was bishop for 49 years from February 24, 1968 to June 14, 2017. Kunnacherry was head of the Diocese of Kottayam for 31 years from May 5, 1974 to December 19, 2005. He was elevated as Archbishop on May 19, 2005.
St Thomas Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Pala, is a Catholic church that follows the Syro-Malabar rite and is located in the town of Pala in the state of Kerala in the south of the Asian country of India. It serves as the mother church of the Syro-Malabar Diocese or Eparchy of Palai which was created in 1950 through the bull "Quo Ecclesiarum" of Pope Pius XII.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Archeparchy of Tiruvalla is an archeparchy of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Tiruvalla, in Kerala, India. Metropolitan Archbishop Aboon Mor Thomas Koorilos currently presides. The seat of the eparchy is at St. John's Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Tiruvalla, a circular edifice designed by a British architect.
Joseph Kallarangatt is an Indian Catholic prelate and theologian, who is the 3rd Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Palai. He was ordained as a priest in 1982, later received a doctorate in theology (ThD) from the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy and was appointed as the Bishop of Palai after the resignation of Bishop Joseph Pallikaparambil in 2004. He was initially an assistant parish priest and became a theologian and seminary teacher after his ThD. Following his appointment as a bishop he was able to gain considerable influence within the hierarchy of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic church within the Catholic Church, and has been regularly selected to participate in various high-profile ecclesiastical ceremonies and duties of the Syro-Malabar Church. He was also appointed to head the doctrinal commission for determining of the Catholic Church's stance towards yoga, which concluded that the practice was incompatible with the Christian faith.
Malabar Migration refers to the large-scale migration of Saint Thomas Christians who existed in Southern and Central Kerala for most of its history to Northern Kerala (Malabar) in the 20th century.
Mar Mathew Arackal is a bishop of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church and an active champion in issues of the environment and society. He served as Head of the Eparchy of Kanjirappally from 9 February 2001 to 2 February 2020. He was also the Chairman of the Syro-Malabar Church Commission for the Laity.
Varthamanappusthakam is a Malayalam travelogue written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar, a Nasrani Mappila kathanar of the modern-day Syro-Malabar Church. It is the first ever travelogue written in an Indian Language. It was written in the 18th century (1790) but then forgotten, being re-discovered in 1935 and first printed in 1936 by Luka Mathai Plathottam at Athirampuzha St Marys Press in the year 1936.
The Eparchy of Palai is a Syro-Malabar Catholic ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church with an area of 1166 km2 comprising the Meenachil taluk and a few villages of the neighbouring taluks in Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Idukki districts of central Kerala in South India. The faithful of this eparchy, numbering 326,742, belong to the ancient St. Thomas Christian community. The seat of the bishop is the St. Thomas Cathedral based in the town of Palai. The current bishop is Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, serving since March 2004. Mar Jacob Muricken has been auxiliary bishop since 2012.
Malankara Syriac Knanaya Community are part of the larger Knanaya community who are descendants of an endogamous ethnic migrant group of Syriac-Jewish Christians who arrived and settled in Kerala in the 4th or 8th century.
St. Pope Pius X Knanaya Catholic Church located in Montebello, California in the US was established as a mission on 17 March 2002 and elevated as a parish on 31 July 2010 for the Knanaya Catholics living in Southern California by Bishop Mar Jacob Angadiath. Before the official establishment of the mission, the community had monthly Syro-Malabar Holy Mass while being members of the local Latin Catholic parishes.
Mar Thomas Tharayil( born 2 February 1972) is the auxiliary bishop of Syro-Malabar Archeparchy of Changanacherry. He was conferred as the auxiliary bishop by Mar Joseph Perumthottam on 23 April 2017.
