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Mar Thoma I Malankara Metropolitan | |||||||||||
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Malankara Church | |||||||||||
Diocese | Malankara Syrian Church | ||||||||||
Installed | 22 May 1653 [1] | ||||||||||
Term ended | 1670 | ||||||||||
Predecessor | post created | ||||||||||
Successor | Mar Thoma II | ||||||||||
Orders | |||||||||||
Ordination | 1637 | ||||||||||
Consecration | regularized in 1665 [1] | ||||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||||
Born | Palamattom Thoma | ||||||||||
Died | 25 April 1670 Angamaly | ||||||||||
Buried | St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Angamaly [2] | ||||||||||
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Mar Thoma I, also known as Valiya Mar Thoma (Mar Thoma the Great) and Arkkadiyakkon Thoma (Archdeacon Thomas) in Malayalam, and referred to as Thomas de Campo in Portuguese, was the first native-born Metropolitan bishop of the Malankara Church in the 17th century. He was the last Archdeacon of the undivided St. Thomas Christians of Malankara. [3]
Following the death of Archdeacon George of the Cross on 25 July 1640, Parambil Thoma Kathanar was elected and enthroned as the new Archdeacon while still under 30 years old. He played a significant role in leading the Church during the Coonan Cross Oath on 3 January 1653, an event that led to a schism within the Nasrani Church. After the Oath, Thoma was elected as a Bishop by the Malankara Yogam (Association) and was consecrated at St. Mary's Church, Alangad, by the laying on of hands by 12 priests on 22 May 1653.[ citation needed ] However, certain factions within the community, including two Southist churches in Kaduthuruthy and Udayamperoor, did not recognize his episcopal authority.[ citation needed ]
Despite this, Thoma began to exercise episcopal powers and sought to regularize his consecration with the Church of Antioch. His episcopal consecration was formally recognized in 1665 by Mar Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, a delegate of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, though the exact date and location of this event remain unknown. [1] During his tenure, Mar Thoma was advised by Palliveettil Mar Chandy, Kadavil Chandy Kathanar, Vengoor Geevargese Kathanar, and Anjilimoottil Ittithomman Kathanar. [4]
Kuravilangad is a town located in the Kottayam district of Kerala, South India. The town is situated in the Meenachil Taluk, about 22 km north of Kottayam. Pakalomattom family was one of the oldest families at Kuravilangad. Thomas who later became the first Mar Thoma, was born in this family. [5]
Pakalomattom Geevarghese Kathanar, the Archdeacon (Arkkadiyakkon) of the Saint Thomas Christians, passed away in 1637. Following his death, Thomas, a relative of Geevarghese, was appointed as the next Archdeacon by Archbishop Stephen Britto. In 1653, Thomas and his followers took the Coonan Cross Oath, declaring that they would no longer obey Archbishop Garcia or any other prelate from the Society of Jesus, and they vowed to exclude the Jesuits from Malabar and their churches. [3]
After the Coonan Cross Oath, on 5 January 1653, the church elders gathered at St. Mary's Church in Edapally (now dedicated to Saint George) and proclaimed Archdeacon Thoma as the Governor of the Church. Four priests—Anjilimoottil Itty Thomman, Kadavil Chandy, Vengoor Geevarghese, and Palliveettil Chandy—were selected as his advisors. [6] [7] Of these, three later returned to the Catholic faction of the St. Thomas Christians.
Four months after the Coonan Cross Oath, on 22 May 1653, twelve priests ordained Thomas as the first Bishop of the Malankara See through the act of laying hands on him collectively. However, the Catholic faction disputed the validity of this consecration, arguing that it was irregular. It is claimed that the consecration was regularized by Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, a delegate of the Patriarch of Antioch, in 1665, although the exact place and date remain unknown. Thomas adopted the name Mar Thoma, asserting his role as the successor of St. Thomas the Apostle.
This consecration was not accepted by two Southist churches, one at Kaduthuruthy and another at Udayamperoor. Later, Bishop Sebastiani, who was ordained on 15 December 1659, convinced many priests and laypeople, including the three advisors who had initially supported Mar Thoma, that the consecration was irregular. Due to political and financial pressures exerted by the Carmelite fathers through the Portuguese and native kings, many churches and laypeople withdrew their allegiance to Mar Thoma. They requested that he relinquish his episcopal dignity, but Mar Thoma continued to perform episcopal functions.
As a result, the Malankara Church split into two factions: one led by Mar Thoma I and the other by Bishop Palliveettil Mar Chandy, also known as Alexander de Campo. Both claimed to have Apostolic briefs of appointment as Bishop. To resolve the dispute, the case was referred to the King of Cochin. On 20 September 1661, the King requested that both parties present their Apostolic briefs in his court. The Apostolic Commissary was able to produce briefs from the Pope of Rome, while the Archdeacon's party failed to present any. On 9 October 1661 Bishop Sebastiani attempted to capture Mar Thoma with the assistance of Portuguese forces and local allies, but Mar Thoma and his followers managed to escape the night before, disguising themselves as soldiers to avoid recognition. [8]
The Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian Company") was established in 1602. By 1652, VOC trading posts were established in Malabar Coast in India. On 7 January 1663, Cochin was attacked and the king of Cochin surrendered to the Dutch on 20 March 1663.
By 1665, Cochin was under Dutch control. That year Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, a delegate of the Patriarch of Antioch came to Malankara as per the request of Mar Thoma and regularized his Metropolitan consecration. [1]
He died on 25 April 1670 and was buried in St. Mary's Jacobite Soonoro Cathedral, Angamaly. [9]
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. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite.
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. With more than 1096 parishes, its one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.
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.
The Malankara Metropolitan or the Metropolitan of Malabar is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Orthodox Church. It evolved from the title of the sixteenth century East Syriac metropolitans of India who were also styled the Metropolitan of Malabar. Since the division among the Saint Thomas Christians following the Synod of Diamper, the title has been mostly employed in association with the West Syriac branch of the community, usually known as the Malankara Church, among whom the office of the Malankara Metropolitan became the continuation of the local dynastic Archdeaconate.
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 Coonan Cross Oath, also known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross or Leaning Cross Oath, was taken on 3 January 1653, in Mattancherry, by a significant portion of the Saint Thomas Christian community in the Malabar region of India. This public declaration marked their refusal to submit to the authority of the Jesuits and the Latin Catholic hierarchy, as well as their rejection of Portuguese dominance in both ecclesiastical and secular matters.
Mar Thoma V was the 5th Malankara Metropolitan who served puthenkoor from 1728 to 8 May 1765. He was born as Ousep to the Pallippuram branch of the Pakalomattom family, situated in Andoor, Marangattupilly, where his father served as administration chief of Vadakkumkur Kings. He was ordained in 1728 and served as Malankara Metropolitan for 37 years until his death on May 8, 1765. His final resting place is Niranam St. Mary’s Church. His tenure faced numerous challenges and conflicts with bishops sent from the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate in Antioch, resulting in some of these Syriac bishops being banished from the country and forced to return.
Mor Gregorios Abdal Jaleel Bawa was the Syriac Orthodox Bishop of Jerusalem from 1664 until his death in 1681. He is chiefly remembered for his 1665 mission to India, by which he established ties between the Malankara Church and the Syriac Orthodox church of Antioch. He is venerated as a saint by his church.
Mar Dionysius III, also known as Punnathra Mar Dionysius and born Kurien was 11th Malankara Metropolitan and Successor to the Holy Apostolic Throne of St.Thomas from 1817 until his death. Dionysius had a long career in the Malankara Church prior to his consecration as Metropolitan. It was his suggestion during the time of Mar Thoma IX to establish the Syrian seminary at Kottayam, Kerala's first educational institution. He also welcomed some of the first missionary teachers who arrived from England to teach in the seminary. In 1816, following the demise of Mar Dionysius II, who had not appointed a successor, Kurien was elected to succeed him as the Malankara Metropolitan by the general assembly of the Church and was ordained as bishop by Geevarghese Mar Philexenos II of the Malabar Independent Syrian Church.
The Malankara Church, also known as Puthenkur, is the unified body of Saint Thomas Christians using the West Syriac Rite who claim origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. This community, under the leadership of Thoma I, opposed the Padroado Jesuits as well as the Propaganda Carmelites following the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653, which was taken to resist Western Catholic influences.
St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Puthencavu is one of the important churches in South India, located at a village named Puthencavu, Alappuzha district in Kerala state of India. The church is one of the oldest Christian churches in the Central Travancore region of Kerala.
Parambil Chandy was an Indian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Cranganore from 1663 to 1687. He was the first known native Indian bishop.
The Malankara Rite is the form of the West Syriac liturgical rite practiced by several churches of the Saint Thomas Christian community in Kerala, India. West Syriac liturgy was brought to India by the Syriac Orthodox Bishop of Jerusalem, Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, in 1665; in the following decades the Malankara Rite emerged as the liturgy of the Malankara Church, one of the two churches that evolved from the split in the Saint Thomas Christian community in the 17th century. Today it is practiced by the various churches that descend from the Malankara Church, namely the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian 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.
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.
Anjilimoottil Itty Thommen Kathanar was a Kathanar of the Knanaya community of Kerala during the time of Portuguese persecution. Together with Arch Deacon Thoma Kathanar, he led the Malankara Church during the turbulent times towards the end of the Portuguese Padroado. In particular, he gave leadership to a crowd of about 25,000 members of the community at Mattancherry during the open revolt against the Portuguese in 1653 following the capture of the Syrian Bishop Ahatallah. The incident led to the Coonan Cross Oath.
Mar Thoma Metropolitan is the title which is given to the Supreme Head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. The Malankara Church was split into different factions over the years. However the Supreme Head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church uses the title of Mar Thoma Metropolitan upholding the autonomous character of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. The current Mar Thoma Metropolitan of The Holy Apostolic Throne of St Thomas is Dr Theodosius Mar Thoma
Kadavil Chandy Kathanar, also known as Alexander the Indian was a Kathanar (priest) and a celebrated scholar, orator, hymnographer and syriacist from the Saint Thomas Christian community in India. He was a prominent face of the Saint Thomas Christians and lead their Catholic faction during a turbulent period of divisions in the community after the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. He was from Kaduthuruthy, Kottayam in Kerala state of India. He often reacted vehemently against the colonial Padroado latin subjugation over his community and resisted their ecclesiastical and cultural dominance. He was widely reputed for his knowledge in Syriac language and literature, and was often praised, both among his own community and the European missionaries who wrote about him in their letters addressed to the Portuguese monarch and to the Pope. His acrostic poems propagated even among West Asia's Syriac-speaking communities. Although he stood against the Latin colonialists, he commanded respect from the Portuguese and the local Hindu kings alike.
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.