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, the Malankara Orthodox church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century(A.D.52).
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic, 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. It is one of the major archiepiscopal Churches of the Catholic Church that are not distinguished with a patriarchal title. It is headed by Major Archbishop Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India.
Mathews Mar Athanasius was the Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church from 1852 until 1865. As a reformer, he spent most of his reign attempting to reform and heal rifts within the church. However in 1865, he was deposed by the traditionalist faction of the Malankara Church and Pulikkottil Joseph Dionysius became their leader.
Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM) is the oldest Christian Student Organization in Asia. It is a spiritual organization of the Indian Orthodox Church, officially known as the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church for the student community. The MGOCSM headquarters is located in Devalokam, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
The Malabar Independent Syrian Church, 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.
Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan, was an Indian cleric and theologian known for the Reformation movement within the Malankara Church during the 19th century. He was born in the ancient Syrian Christian Palakunnathu family which practiced West Syriac Rite Oriental Orthodoxy after the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653.
Mar Dionysius I , was the 6th Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Church from 1765 until his death. A member of the Pakalomattom family he appealed to outside authorities to assert his position as the sole leader of the Malankara Church and to attempt to reunite all the Saint Thomas Christians.
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 an autonomous Oriental Orthodox church based in Kerala, India, and an integral branch or archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East as supreme head of the church. It functions as a largely autonomous unit within the church, administered by the Metropolitan Trustee, under the authority of the Catholicos of India, Baselios Thomas I. It is currently the only church in Malankara that has a direct relationship with the Syriac Christians of Antioch, which has continued since the schism of 1665 and employs the West Syriac Liturgy of Saint James.
The Malankara Church, also known as Puthenkur and more popularly as Jacobite Syrians, refers to the collection of West Syriac Saint Thomas Christian denominations, which claim ultimate apostolic origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle according to tradition. The community under the leadership of Thoma I, that resisted the Padroado Jesuits as well as the Propaganda Carmelites of the Roman Catholic Church, following the historical Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. In 1665, Gregorios Abdul Jaleel, sent from Patriarch Ignatius Abdulmasih I introduced West Syriac Rite in India. By 1809, the Jacobite Syrians fully incorporated the Antiochian Syriac Rite liturgy after the assembly of parish representatives met at Kandanad, Kerala and resolved to fully implement the move to West Syriac Rite through the declaration Kandanad Padiyola, which had been already partially implemented by the same assembly in 1789 at Puthiyacavu. The modern-day descendants of the Jacobite Syrians are the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC), the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC), the Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church (MTC), the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church. Among these, only the JSCC form an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. The autocephalous MOSC, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church is one of the member churches of Oriental Orthodox communion. The MTC is an independent Oriental Protestant church that is in communion with the Church of England and its Anglican communion. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is an autonomus sui iuris Eastern Catholic 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.
Saint Geevarghese Mar Dionysius of Vattasseril popularly known as Vattasseril Thirumeni was the 15th Malankara Metropolitan (primate) of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. In 2003, the Church declared Mar Dionysius as a saint. He is known as 'The Great Luminary of Malankara Church', a title which the Church bestowed on him in recognition of his contribution to the Church.
Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysious II was the Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church, was born into the family of Pulikkottil (Kunnamkulam). He was the 14th Malankara Metropolitan.
Samuel Mar Philexinose was the first bishop of the Malabar Diocese of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
The Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Southwest America, sometimes referred to as the Southwest Diocese or DS-WA is a diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The diocesan headquarter is located in Beasley, Texas a suburban city in Texas 40 miles from downtown Houston. The Southwest Diocese covers several churches in the U.S. states, and Canada.
Niranam Pally, popularly known as Niranam Valiya Pally or St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, Niranam, is a church under the Niranam Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It is possible that this church was founded by Thomas the Apostle, one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, in AD 54.
Bangalore Diocese is a diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church also known as Indian Orthodox Church located in Bangalore, Karnataka.
Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Northeast America is a diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The Diocese has jurisdiction over eastern parts of the United States and eastern parts of Canada. The diocese is headquartered at Muttontown, New York.
E. A. E St. Mary's Soonoro Syriac Orthodox Church, Meenangadi, is a Marian Pilgrim center of the Syriac Orthodox Church located at Meenangadi in Kerala, India. The church is under E.A.E Arch Diocese, the first missionary association of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East, and is currently under the direct control of Ignatius Aphrem II, Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church. In 2006, the church was elevated to the status of "Marian Pilgrim Centre", and in 2018, it celebrated its diamond jubilee. It is the first church to adopt the 8 Day Lent in Malabar Region.
St. Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral, Bangalore is an Orthodox Syrian Christian Cathedral located near Johnson market in Richmond town in Bangalore city, India. It is the only Cathedral for the Orthodox Christian community in Bangalore and known to be one of the oldest Orthodox Churches in the city.
Several historical evidences shed light on a significant Malankara–Persian ecclesiastical relationship that spanned centuries. While an ecclesiastical relationship existed between the Saint Thomas Christians of India and the Church in Sassanid Empire in the earlier centuries, closer ecclesiastical ties developed as early as seventh century, when India became an ecclesiastical province of the Church of the East, albeit restricted to matters of purely ecclesiastical nature such as ordination of priests, and not involved in matters of temporal administration. This relationship endured until the Portuguese protectorate of Cochin of Malabar came to be in 16th century, and the Portuguese discovery of a sea route to India. The Christians who came under the two ancient yet distinct lineages of Malankara and Persia had one factor in common: their Saint Thomas heritage. The Church of the East shared communion with the Great Church until the Council of Ephesus in the 5th century, separating primarily over differences in Christology.
Baby Varghese, born in India, is a Malankara Orthodox priest and a Church historian and scholar in Syriac Liturgical Theology.
