The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. It is the largest Syriac Christian church and the largest Eastern Catholic church. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
Angamaly is a municipality in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. It is located 20 km (12.4 mi) north of the district collectorate in Thrikkakara and about 203 km (126.1 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. Angamaly is part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is located 24 km (14.9 mi) northeast of the Kochi city centre. As per the 2011 Indian census, Angamaly has a population of 33,465 people, and a population density of 1,640/km2 (4,200/sq mi).
The Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor Synod) (Malayalam: ഉദയംപേരൂർ സൂനഹദോസ്, romanized: Udayampērūṟ Sūnahadōs), held at Udayamperoor (known as Diamper in non-vernacular sources) in June 1599, was a diocesan synod, or council, that created rules and regulations for the ancient Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Mar Thoma Nasranis) of the Malabar Coast, a part of modern-day Kerala state, India, formally subjugating them and downgrading their whole Metropolitanate of India as the Diocese of Angamale, a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of Goa administered by Latin Church Padroado missionaries. This synod also introduced forced Liturgical Latinisation and the eschewal of local practices and beliefs, leading to a significant ecclesial protest by Saint Thomas Christians known as Coonan Cross Oath and a subsequent schism in the mid-17th century.
The 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 St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Cathedral Basilica is a cathedral in Ernakulam, Kerala, India. It was founded in 1112, and is also known by the names Nasrani Palli, Anchikaimal Palli or Thekke Palli. The church is the headquarters of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly, which is the Primatal See of the Syro-Malabar Church. Currently it’s closed down and under police protection due to dispute between the rebels in the Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese and the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy.
Mar Antony Padiyara was a Syro Malabar Major Archbishop and cardinal. He was the First Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He was Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly from 1985 to 1996, having previously served as Bishop of Ootacamund (1955–1970) and Archbishop of Changanassery (1970–1985). He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988.
This article lists the various old and ancient churches that exist among the Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala.
Thachil Mar Matthoo Tharakan (1741–1814) was a Saint Thomas Christian merchant, social leader and minister who played a key role in Kerala, especially in its Travancore and Cochin regions, in India towards the latter part of the 18th century and early 19th century. He relentlessly worked to bring about a reunification in his community which was divided into Catholic (Pazhayakūr) and Jacobite (Puthenkūr) after the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. He organized his community against the colonialist attempts of Portuguese and played a prominent role in the assembly of Catholic Saint Thomas Christians at Angamāly that paved the way for the establishment of independent Syro-Malabar hierarchy.
This is a timeline of the history of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
Mar Sabor and Mar Proth, according to Syrian Christians of Kerala, were two Church of the East Bishops believed to have arrived in 825 AD alongside a group of Christian settlers led by a merchant from Persia. Together, they established ecclesiastical institutions in several regions. Revered for their devoutness, they were posthumously recognized as saints by the local ecclesiastical body. The mission is said to have received permission from the then king of Kerala to build a church in Kollam.
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.
Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar (1736–1799) is the author of Varthamanappusthakam (1790), the first ever travelogue in an Indian language. Also known as Roma Yatraa Varthamanapusthakam, it postulates that the foundation of Indian nationalism rests on the basic principle that India should achieve civic self-rule. Long before the debates on nationalism shaking the intellectual circles of Europe, Asia, and Africa, Thoma Kathanar offers a distinctive positionality as a minority Syriac Christian priest and subsequent administrator of the Archdiocese of Cranganore with transnational ties to Portuguese ecclesiology who nevertheless argues in favor of autonomous civic Indian governance.
St. Thomas Cathedral is the Syro Malabar Catholic cathedral of the eparchy of Irinjalakuda in India. It presently exists under the nomenclature and the Canonical Status as Cathedral in the Wake of the Origin of the New Eparchy, effected by the amalgamation of the two independent and important parishes of the locality, namely, St. George’s Forane Church and St. Mary’s church, which were amicably situated side by side for about a century.
George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the postion from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are Christian denominations from Kerala, India, which traditionally trace their ultimate 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. It is part of the Eastern Christianity institution.
Mar Hormizd Cathedral, locally known as the Eastern Church of Angamaly or the Cathedral Church, is a Syro-Malabar church in Angamaly, India. It was created cathedral in 1577 by Mar Abraham, the last East Syriac Metropolitan to reach Malabar Coast. It is one of the oldest and is historically the most important of the three ancient Syrian churches in Angamaly. It is dedicated to Mar Hormizd, a seventh-century East Syriac saint.
St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Soonoro Cathedral, or Angamaly Cheriyapally, is an ancient Jacobite Syrian church located in Angamaly. Founded in 1564 by Archdeacon Giwargis of Christ, it is one of the most prominent and ancient Syriac Orthodox churches in Kerala. In the seventeenth century it was the residence of Archdeacon Thomas Parambil, who eventually got consecrated as bishop Mar Thoma I following the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653. It was initially the seat of the Archdeacon and later the Marthoma methrans, the local heads of the Malankara Church and hence held an important position in the church for several centuries.
Angamāly Padiyōla is a historic declaration of the Syrian Catholic/ Syro Malabar (Paḻayakūṟ) Saint Thomas Christians proclaimed in 1787 at the Great Church of Saint George in Angamāly. This document made a strong appeal to the pope for the consecration of a native bishop for the community and demanded autonomy for their Church which was forcibly brought under the Latin Church's jurisdiction.
The Paḻayakūṟ, also known as Romo-Syrians or Syrian Catholics of Malabar, are the Saint Thomas Christians who use the East Syriac Rite and claim apostolic origin from the Indian mission of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century AD.
