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. 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.
Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, FCC ; 19 August 1910 – 28 July 1946), was a nun in the Franciscan Clarist Congregation and an educator by profession. She was also known for being a victim soul, visionary and prophetess in the Kottayam pergunna of the erstwhile Travancore province of British India, in the present-day Kerala, India.
Kuriakose Elias Chavara, CMI was an Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic priest, religious, philosopher and social reformer. He is the first canonised Catholic male saint of Indian origin and was a member of the Syro-Malabar Church, an Eastern Catholic church.
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.
Joseph Powathil was an Indian prelate of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Changanassery, serving from 1985 until 2007. He was also the first bishop of Kanjirappally, having served from 1977 to 1985. He served as the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) from 1994 to 1998. Powathil was one of the youngest bishops in India, having been ordained bishop at the age of 41 and Pope Paul VI was his principal consecrator. A scholar in theology, Powathil is known for his stance in matters related to the Syro-Malabar Church's liturgy and restoration of eastern traditions. His stance on the fee structure of self-financing colleges had once become a challenge for the Kerala state government.
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 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 Archeparchy of Kottayam is a Syro-Malabar Church metropolitan archeparchy of the 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 4th century A.D.
This article lists the various old and ancient churches that exist among the Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala.
This is a timeline of the history of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
Kurumpanadam Forane Church in Kerala, India is on a hillock about 6 km east of Changanacherry and 800 metres north of Perumpanachy Junction. This area was a part of Changanacherry Parish in ancient days and later from 1835 to 1837 under the jurisdiction of Thuruthi Parish. The Mooppachanmar who had visited Kurumbanadu to select aspirants for priesthood selected Chorikkavungal Zackarias and Mukkattukunnel Thomas from this area. They requested the Catholics of this area to erect a church. Following their request, 93 Catholic families who had inhabited Kurumbanadu erected the first Catholic Church here on 13 June 1837. It had stood on the north of the present church. As the church was not spacious enough, the construction of a new church was started in 1844. Fr. Philipose Chalackal, a parishioner of Thuruthi, was the vicar of Kurumpanadu. The main role in the construction of the new church was played by Fathers Thomas Mukkattukunnel and Zackarias Chorickavunkal.
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.
Champakulam Kalloorkadu St. Mary's Basilica is an ancient Christian Church in Kerala. It belongs to the Syro-Malabar Church under the Archeparchy of Changanacherry. It is a Forane church, with several parishes under it.
St. Thomas More Syro-Malabar Church, Alakode is a parish of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, located in Kalayanthani, Idukki district, Kerala. It is situated in the village of Alakode at Meenmutty, 6 kilometres away from Thodupuzha town and close to the Thodupuzha – Poomala main road. It is the only church in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Kothamangalam in the patronage of St. Thomas More, who took martyrdom for the protection of faith when he was the Chancellor of England.
St. Philomena's Forane Church, popularly known as Koonammavu Church is situated in Koonammavu, a northern suburban town of Kochi City of Kerala state, India. This is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in India, built in 1837 AD. Even though the church is dedicated to the Virgin Philomena, Saint Chavara Achan's feast is celebrated in every year as the annual festival, a nine-day festival lasting from 26 December to 3 January along with Holy Christmas and the New Year. The church is also popular among non-Christians as a pilgrimage centre and this seventh Forane of Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Verapoly serves as the Catholic Forane Church of 12 churches listed below.
- Church of Our Lady of Velankanni, Chariyamthuruth
- Christ the King Church-Christnagar, Varapuzha
- St. Antony's Church, Kongorpilly, Koonammavu.
- Church of Our Lady of Rosary, Maloth, Koonammavu
- Church of Our Lady of Nativity, Muttinakam, Varapuzha
- St. Joseph's Church, Neerikode, Alangad.
- Little Flower Church, Panayikulam
- Sacred Heart Church, Thevarkad, Varapuzha.
- Infant Jesus Church, Thundathumkadavu, Varapuzha.
- Amalolbhavamatha Church, Valluvally, Koonammavu
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Joseph's Minor Basilica, Varapuzha
- St. Antony's Church, Chennur, Varapuzha.
Thomas Aykara CMI is the rector of Dharmaram College in Bengaluru, India. He is a Catholic priest of the Syro-Malabar Church. He joined the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate (CMI)Carmelites of Mary Immaculate congregation, St. Joseph's Province Kottayam in 1954. He is a philosopher, theologian and religious. He is a scholar, teacher, author and thinker. Several academic centres in India and abroad originated through the efforts of Thomas Aykara.
Places of worship in Pala include both Christian churches and Hindu temples in Pala in the Indian state of Kerala.
St. Joseph's Church, Mannanam is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church located in Mannanam, Kerala. The church was built by St. Kuriakose Elias Chavara on top of a hill and his mortal remains are interred in the church.
The Basilica of Our lady of Mount Carmel & St Joseph, popularly known as Varapuzha Basilica, is in Varapuzha, a northern suburban town of Kochi City in the Ernakulam district of Kerala state, India. It was built in 1673. The basilica is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St Joseph. The solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady is celebrated as an annual sixteen-day confraternity festival, from 31 July to 15 August. The basilica is also famous as a pilgrimage centre in the southern part of India. It serves as the mother church for 14 churches.
