This is a timeline of the history of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
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. 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.
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.
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 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.
Mar Aloysius (Louis) Pazheparambil was the Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Originally a monk of the Syrian Carmelites, he was expelled along with nine others in 1875 from the religious order by the local bishop for writing to the Pope asking for an Indian bishop to rule his church. Later in 1896, he became one of three Indian bishops appointed to rule over the three Vicariates Apostolic in his church.
Charles Lavigne, S.J. was a Catholic bishop of the Latin Church from France who was appointed as the first Vicar Apostolic in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Vicariate of Kottayam on 20 May 1887. After shifting the seat of Kottayam Vicariate to Changanacherry on 16 September 1890, his term ended on 28 July 1896. He later served as the first Bishop of Trincomalee, Sri Lanka from 27 August 1898 until his death at Marvejols in France on 11 July 1913.
Mathew Makil was the second Vicar Apostolic and the first indigenous Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam (Changanacherry), which is the Syro Malabar Archeparchy of Changanacherry today. Mathew Makil was also the first Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Kottayam, which is the Knanaya Catholic Archeparchy of Kottayam today. In 1896, he became the Vicar Apostolic of the Vicariate of Changanacherry, and in 1911, when a new Vicariate Apostolic of Kottayam was constituted exclusively for the Knanaya Catholics, Mathew Makil was transferred to Kottayam as its first Vicar Apostolic. He died at Kottayam on 26 January 1914 and he was declared as Servant of God on 26 January 2009.
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 claim to be the descendants of Syriac Judeo-Christians who migrated from South Mesopotamia to Kodungallur (Muziris) in South India in 4th century A.D.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of Sagar is an eparchy in central India, which is part of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, yet is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Latin Catholic rite Metropolitan of the Roman Archdiocese of Bhopal. It was created in 1968 as (missionary) and promoted diocese in 1977 by the papal bull Divina Verba of Pope Paul VI.
The Archdiocese of Verapoly (Verapolitana) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church, composed of Latin Catholics of Malabar and headquartered at the city of Cochin, in the south Indian state of Kerala. The archdiocese has administrative control over the suffragan dioceses of Calicut, Cochin, Kannur, Kottapuram, Sultanpet and Vijayapuram. The headquarters is located in Kochi along the Malabar Coast in India. It was originally formed as the Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar in 1657 and became a metropolitan see in 1886. Verapoly is the anglicised name of Varapuzha.
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.
Raphael Thattil is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who serves as the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Church and as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly since January 2024.
Charism = Be holy and lead others to holiness Superior General =Mother Grace Therese CMC
The St. Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Australia. The eparchy was erected by Pope Francis on 11 January 2014. This is the second eparchy of the Syro-Malabar Church outside India, after the Eparchy of Chicago, and it has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in the entirety of Australia.
St. Joseph Church, Aloor is a parish of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Aloor. It was the first parish church in Aloor Muri of the Mukundapuram and Kodassery taluks. Aloor parish is one of the 83 parishes between the Bharathappuzha and Periyar rivers, during the erection of syro-Malabar hierarchy and Trichur Vicariate.