10°06′09″N76°21′27″E / 10.1026152°N 76.3574106°E Thrikkunathu Seminary is a historic [1] seminary under the ownership of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Aluva, Ernakulam.Owing to an ownership dispute between the factions, the Methran Kakshi and the Bava Kashi, the seminary was closed in December 1977. [1] The church is a pilgrimage site for Christians in India. It is the headquarters of Angamaly diocese of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church .
In 1880 the Malankara Church acquired 18 acres (73,000 m2) of land for construction of the church and a cornerstone was laid in 1889. The church began as a small building thatched with coconut leaves which was slowly built out in the early 1900s. Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasios in the early 1930s built the present St Mary's Church. [2] Mar Athanasius both gave away and sold at a very low price much of his inherited land so that Syrian Christians settling in the area could live near the church. The western side of the building was enlarged in 1964. Inside are the tombs of four 19th and 20th century Angamaly diocesan metropolitans, Kadavil Paulose Mar Athanasius (d 1907), Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasios (d 1953) Vayalipparambil Geevarghese Mar Gregorios (d 1966) and Philippose Mar Theophilos. [3]
On 25 and 26 January each year thousands of pilgrims gather at the seminary to take part in the celebrations commemorating the feast (Dhukrono- Death Anniversary) of the metropolitans . [3]
A cornerstone for the seminary was laid down in 1904. An English middle school was also planned but never built. Like the newer church building, the seminary was finished and opened by Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasius in 1930–31. A dormitory for seminary students called the Syrian Hostel was also built nearby. In the spring of 1931 Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Elias III began a long journey of mediation throughout India by staying at the new seminary, after first calling on British officials Lord Irwin in Delhi and George Stanley at Madras.
A second floor was added in 1956. From its opening in 1931 until the 1970s Thrikkunnathu Seminary was a notable teaching facility for clergy in the northern dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. [4]
When the Malankara Syrian Church split in 1975 [2] [5] the seminary's resident metropolitan bishop had been Angamali diocesan head of the official Orthodox church body since the late 1960s. The seminary building, church and grounds ownership was retained by Malankara Orthodox Church. [4] Ownership was disputed in the aftermath and two years later, on 6 December 1977 the seminary and church were closed. [1] Malankara Orthodox metropolitans still reside in the seminary building. [4]
In 1997 Philipose Mar Theophilos, then metropolitan of Angamali diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, died while staying at the old seminary building and was entombed next to the church. This tomb was later rebuilt as another room of the church building itself. [3]
Since the early 1980s the Patriarch faction started to worship in a rented building called Mass Hall not far from St Mary's Church. [3] [6]
Mediation efforts to settle disagreements over the use of [7] the seminary have been unsuccessful. On 3 July 2005, local police were called to the closed church when violence broke out over the long-standing ownership dispute. A government lawyer's automobile was set on fire, priests and others were reportedly hurt and there were claims of police brutality. [8] In January 2009 the church had been closed for over 31 years when The New Indian Express, after speaking with a spokesman for the Malankara Orthodox church, reported that "the Catholicos faction was not averse to letting the faithful of both factions worship in the Church, but the top Church officials of the Patriarch faction cannot be allowed in." [1]
In January 2006, the Hindu reported that "A meeting of various groups under the Orthodox Church on Sunday at the seminary said that they would protect the seminary property at any cost and warned that the Government would be responsible for the fall out of anyone using force to enter the seminary premises." [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, it is one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.
The Malankara Metropolitan or the Metropolitan of Malabar is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian 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.
Gregorios of Parumala, also known as Parumala Thirumeni and Geevarghese Mar Gregorios, was a Metropolitan of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Parumala Thirumeni became the first person of Indian origin to be canonised as saint. In 1947, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church declared Mar Gregorios as a saint, making him the first saint from India canonized by that church. In November 1987, the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church(Syriac Orthodox Church) canonized him as a saint.
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.
Mor Baselios Thomas I was a Syriac Orthodox prelate who served as the Catholicos of India (Maphrian) and head of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church. Enthroned on 26 July 2002 by Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas in Damascus, Syria, he led the church through periods of ecclesiastical and social challenge until his death in 2024.
Mor Severios Abraham is a Syriac Orthodox bishop. As of 2013, he is the Metropolitan of Angamali region of the Angamali Diocese and Abbott of Mor Gabriel Dayro (Monastery). He is the most senior metropolitan in the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
Mor Themotheos Thomas is the Metropolitan of Kottayam Diocese and Secretary to the Holy Episcopal Synod of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. Mor Themotheos Thomas was ordained as the Metropolitan of the Outside Kerala Diocese on 3 January 1991 by Mor Baselios Paulose II Catholicos of the East .
Baselios Augen I was the 17th Malankara Metropolitan, the fourth Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and the first Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church. He was the first Catholicos consecrated in a reunified Malankara Church, by the Patriarch of Antioch in 1964 but his tenure saw a second split in the Holy Church.
Saint Paulose Mor Athanasios, popularly known as Aluvayile Valiya Thirumeni, was the Metropolitan of the Angamaly Diocese and malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.
Angamaly Diocese is one of the ancient dioceses of Malankara Orthodox Church in Kerala, India. Angamaly Diocese is one of the 32 dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church having its see at Kottayam, and covering a wide area including big portions of Ernakulam and Idukki Districts. The Diocese was formed in the historic synod of Mulanthuruthy in 1876.
St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church, Kottayam, commonly known as Kottayam Cheriapally, is a Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church located in Kottayam, Kerala, India. Cheriapally meaning ‘small church’, whose appearance contradicts its name, is one of the oldest and well-preserved churches in the state. Cheriapally is located on the way to Kumarakom from Kottayam. The church is dedicated to mother Mary. Kottayam Cheriapally, built in 1579, has retained its old world charm today as well even after so much of environmental changes. The length and breadth of the church is constructed with innovative paintings, mural, and architecture. Before the inception of the Old Seminary in 1815, Kottayam Cheriapally was the Headquarters of the Church and Malankara Metropolitans for a long time.
Sir Dr. Mor Athanasious Eliyas is a Syriac Orthodox bishop. As of 2012 he is Metropolitan of Thrissur diocese,the Patriarchal vicar of Singapore, President of Antiochean Faith Movement in India and Vicar General of the St. Athanasius Cathedral at the Puthencuriz.
Mor Gregorios Jacobite Students' Movement (MGJSM) is the student wing of Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church. It is a Christian student organization in India. The headquarters of MGJSM is located at Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary of Ernakulam District in Kerala.
Angamali Diocese is the largest of the 12 dioceses of Syrian Orthodox Church in Kerala. Angamali Diocese was formed in the historic synod of Mulanthuruthy in 1876 and has been the major center of Jacobites through the ages. Metropolitan of the Diocese is HB Baselios Thomas I Catholicose.
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.
Athanasius Paulose was the First Metropolitan of Evangelistic Association of the East. He was consecrated as Metropolitan in 1973.
Kottayam Diocese is one of the 32 dioceses of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The diocese was created in Mulanthuruthy Synod in 1876.
Thrikkunnathu Seminary, Aluva, was founded in 1880 by the Metropolitan H.G Ambatt Geevarghese Mar Coorilose of the Malankara Church.
