The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, is an autonomous Reformed Oriental church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is reformed in its theology and doctrines. It employs a reformed variant of the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James, translated to Malayalam.
Arthunkal is a coastal town and a major pilgrim centre in the south Indian state of Kerala. It is 40 kilometre south of Cochin city and 21 kilometre north of Alleppey town. It is a rapidly developing satellite town of Kochi. Arthunkal lies in the taluk of Cherthala, which is in turn a part of the district of Alleppey.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 27.8 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of the Saint Thomas Christians state that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle, who sailed to the Malabar region in the present-day Kerala state in 52 AD.
The Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly is a Majorarcheparchy and the See of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church(Sui Ruis). Mar Cardinal George Alencherry is the present Major Archbishop, and until July 2022, Archbishop Mar Antony Kariyil CMI was the Vicar of Major Archbishop, responsible for the administration of the Archeparchy. Now, Mar Andrews Thazath, Arch Bishop of Trissur Archeparchy was appointed by the holy father Pope Francis as the Apostolic Administrator of the same. Kothamangalam and Idukki are the two suffragan eparchies of the archeparchy. Major Arch bishop is the head of the eparchy at the same time being the head of the Syro Malabar Church. The archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly occupies a prominent position in the history of the Syro-Malabar church. It was established as a Vicariate by the Bull Quae Rei Sacrae of pope Leo on 28 July 1896 Mar Louis Pazheparambil was appointed as the first figure apostolic, who assumed charge on 5 November 1896. Under the able guidance of Mar Pazheparambil, the vicariate begin to flourish. City of Ernakulam was chosen to be the location for The Bishop's house which was completed and blessed on 24 April 1900.
The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica at Fort Kochi, Kochi, is one of the nine basilicas in Kerala. Counted as one of the heritage edifices of Kerala, this church is one of the finest and most impressive churches in India and visited by tourists the whole year round. It is a place of devotion as well as a center of historic significance, endowed with architectural and artistic grandeur and colours of the gothic style.
The Carmelites of Mary Immaculate abbreviated CMI, formerly also known as the Servants of Mary Immaculate, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and is the largest such congregation in the Syro-Malabar Church.
The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope. There are over 20 million Catholics in India, representing around 1.55% of the total population, and the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian church in India. There are 10,701 parishes that make up 174 dioceses and eparchies, which are organised into 29 ecclesiastical provinces. Of these, 132 dioceses are of the Latin Church, 31 of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church & 11 of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Despite the very small population that Indian Catholics make up percentage wise, India still has the second-largest Christian population in Asia after the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
The Knanaya 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 345 AD.
St. Mary's Basilica is located in the Archdiocese of Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is among the oldest churches in Bangalore and the first church in the state that has been elevated to the status of a minor basilica. It is famous for festivities held during the St. Mary's Feast in the month of September each year, attracting devotees from the entire region of Bangalore.
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 .
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Alleppey is a diocese centered on the city of Alleppey in the Ecclesiastical province of Trivandrum in India. It lies along the Arabian Sea between the dioceses of Cochin and Quilon, covering an area of 333 square kilometers. These are the most important churches in the Diocese of Alappuzha. 1. Arthunkal BasilicaArthunkal –, 2. Thumpoli Thumpoly Church -(Marian Pilgrimage Center), 3. Kattoor Forane Church, 4. Latin Church Cathedral, 5. Vanaswargam Church, 6. Punnapra-Paravoor Churches, 7. Pollathai Church, 8. St. Antony's shrine alleppey..The main churches in the diocese are Manakkodam Church.
Vilakuvelil Cherian Samuel, called Samuel Achen was an Indian Christian philosopher, scholar, university professor, theologian, historian, polyglot and ecumenical leader. He was a priest of the Indian Orthodox Church. He was the author of many doctrinal books and papers including The Council of Chalcedon Re-Examined: Historical Theological Survey.
The Basilica of the Holy Redeemer, Tiruchirappalli is one of five Roman Catholic minor basilicas in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India.
Palayur Mar Thoma Major Archiepiscopal Church, is located at Palayur, in Thrissur district in Kerala on the west coast of India. According to Saint Thomas Christian tradition, the Syrian church was established in 52 AD by St Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. Saint Thomas performed the first baptism in India here, therefore this church is called an Apostolic Church credited to the apostolate of St. Thomas, who preached and also introduced Christianity to the people here. It is part of the Ēḻarappaḷḷikaḷ that he established in India, the others being at Cranganore, Kokkamangalam, Kottakkavu, Kollam, Niranam, and Chayal (Nilackal). The original small church structure has been retained at the original site. But substantial improvements around it were carried out during the 17th century by Giacomo Fenicio as necessary, without sacrificing the main sanctity of the place.
St. George Syro-Malabar Catholic Basilica is a basilica of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Angamaly, Kerala, India. The current basilica building was constructed under the leadership of Paul Kariatty and it was consecrated on 31 December 2006.
Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast in AD 52. In the colonial age many Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians came to Tamil Nadu. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonisers but also to spread the Christian faith among the non-Christians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
The largest shrine of St Sebastian in the world, the church known as Arthunkal St. Andrew's Basilica and St. Sebastian's International Shrine in Arthunkal, Cherthala, Alappuzha district, Kerala, India, was constructed by waning just Portuguese missionaries in the 16th century. The grand annual feast of St Sebastian Arthunkal in January, which lasts for a month accompanied by millions of pilgrims is one of the important celebrations and major attractions in India.The feast of shrine Basilica also known as makaram perunnal. The church was rebuilt in 1584 under the vicar Jacomo Fenicio, an Italian Jesuit whose devotees claim to possess powers to heal the body and mind. Devotees fondly referred to him as "Arthunkal Veluthachan", "fair skinned father". Fenicio died in 1632. Eight years after his death, the church was rebuilt again, this time reoriented to face west towards the long white-sand beach on the shores of the Arabian Sea. In 1647, a statue of St. Sebastian, struck with arrows all over his bleeding body sculptured in Milan, was brought and placed in the Arthunkal church.
George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church in 2011 to succeed Varkey Vithayathil (1999–2011). He was created a cardinal on 18 February 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. He was the first bishop of Thuckalay from 1997 to 2011 before his enthronement as the major archbishop.
St. Francis Xavier's Church, Sampaloor, popularly known as Sampaloor Palli, is a parish church coming under the Diocese of Kottapuram of the Archdiocese of Verapoly. It is situated along Palayamparambu Road, at Sampaloor, Mala in Thrissur district of the south Indian state of Kerala. The church is best known for hosting a number of Christian saints and missionaries including Francis Xavier, John de Britto, Arnos Pathiri and Constanzo Beschi.
The Latin Catholics of Malabar Coast, aka Roman Catholics of Kerala or Malabar Latin Catholics are a multi-ethnic religious group who constitute the ecclesiastical provinces of Verapoly and Trivandrum, which follow the Roman Rite liturgical practices of the Latin Church, on the Malabar Coast, the southwestern coast of India. They are predominantly Malayali people and speak the Malayalam language, though a subgroup of Luso-Indians speaks the Cochin Portuguese Creole. They trace their origins to the evangelization of Malabar Coast by the Dominican, Franciscan, Jesuit and Carmelite missionaries, mainly French and Portuguese.
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