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. The church serves India's Saint Thomas Christian population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal churches of the Catholic Church. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India.
Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek καθολικός, pl. καθολικοί, derived from καθ' ὅλου from κατά and ὅλος, meaning "concerning the whole, universal, general"; it originally designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire. The name of the Catholic Church comes from the same word—however, the title "Catholicos" does not exist in its hierarchy.
In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop is a title for the chief hierarch of an autonomous particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarchal title". Major archbishops generally have the same rights, privileges, and jurisdiction as Eastern Catholic patriarchs, except where expressly provided otherwise, and rank immediately after them in precedence of honor.
Joseph Powathil is an Indian prelate of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He is the Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanassery.
The Malabar Independent Syrian Church (MISC) also known as the Thozhiyur Church, is a Christian church centred in Kerala, India. It is one of the churches of the Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.
Moran Mor Cyril Baselios Catholicos or, when referencing his title of Major Archbishop, Cyril Baselios Malancharuvil OIC was the first major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was elevated by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
Holy See of the East is an honorary name of the sees of a number of Christian churches in the Middle East and India.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India or CBCI is the permanent association of the Catholic bishops of India. It was established in September 1944, in Chennai. The CBCI Secretariat was located in Bangalore until 1962, when it was shifted to the national capital, New Delhi. The CBCI is a member of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC), or the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in India also known as Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the Jacobite Syrian Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church in India, is a catholicate based in Kerala, India, of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and part of the Oriental Orthodox Church. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East as supreme head of the church. It functions autonomously within the church, administered by the Metropolitan Trustee, under the authority of the Maphrian of India, Baselios Thomas I. Following schism with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, is currently the only church in Malankara that is directly under a Syriac Christian Antiochian hierarchy, claiming continuity to the 1665 schism. The church employs the West Syriac Rite Liturgy of Saint James.
Baselios Cleemis is the current major archbishop-catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was named to the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI on 24 November 2012.
'St. Mary's Malankara Syrian Catholic Cathedral, Pattom, Trivandrum is the central place of worship of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Major Archbishop of Trivandrum. The tombs of the Servant of God Archbishop Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios and of Major Archbishop Cyril Baselios Catholicos are located here.
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Eparchy of Bathery is an eparchy of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Sulthan Bathery, in Kerala, India. As of 2013 Aboon Joseph Mar Thomas was the bishop. The seat of the eparchy is at St. Thomas Syro-Malankara Catholic Cathedral in Sulthan Bathery.
Joshua Mar Ignathios is the Eparch of the Eparchy of Mavelikara of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the state of Kerala, India.
The St. Mary, Queen of Peace Basilica, located in the Palayam/Cantonment area of the city of Thiruvananthapuram, in the state of Kerala, India, is the first Syro-Malankara Catholic Church to be elevated to the rank of a Catholic basilica. It is the fifth basilica in Kerala.
Mar George Alencherry the major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church and is 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.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are traditional Christian denominations from Kerala, India, who trace their origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. They are also known as "Nasranis" as well. The Syriac term "Nasrani" is still used by St. Thomas Christians in Kerala.
Stephen Alathara is the deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and the director of CCBI Centre. He started as the deputy secretary general of the conference on 10 June 2014. He is the first priest from Kerala to serve as the deputy secretary general of the national episcopal conference. He is also the National Director of Communio India, Executive Secretary to the CCBI Commission for Boundary, Chief Functionary of the Episcopal Conference, the Director of Shanti Sadan, CCBI Secretariat Extension, Benaulim, Goa and the Editor of the CCBI News. The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India is the largest canonical national episcopal conference in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. There are 132 dioceses and 182 bishops under the conference.
