Mar Thoma III Mar Thoma Metropolitan | |
|---|---|
| Malankara Church | |
 Mar Thoma III | |
| Installed | 1686 |
| Term ended | 22 April 1688 |
| Predecessor | Mar Thoma II |
| Successor | Mar Thoma IV |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 21 April 1688 Kadampanad |
| Buried | Kadampanad Valiyapally (St.Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad) |
Mar Thoma III was the third metropolitan bishop who was the 3rd Metropolitan of the Malankara Church in India for a brief period from 1686 to 1688.
On the southwestern coast of India lies a small state known as Kerala. It was here in the first century, Thomas the Apostle arrived to preach the gospel. Some of the Jews and locals became followers of Jesus of Nazareth. They were known as Malabar Nasrani people and their church as Malankara Church. They followed a unique Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition which included several Jewish elements and Indian customs.
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. The third Mar Thoma was from this family. He grew up as a man of prayer.
Mar Thoma II died suddenly on 14 April 1686, and he was buried inside Niranam church. The leaders of the Malankara Church selected Mar Thoma III as his successor. At that time Mar Ivanios Hidayuttulla who arrived in Kerala in 1685 was the only bishop in Malankara. So Mar Ivanios consecrated Mar Thoma in 1686.
Malankara church had comparatively a peaceful time during his tenure. It was during this time some members of Karingachira parish joined the Catholics. But majority of them supported Mar Thoma III and rejected the authority of Roman bishop Joseph Sebastani. [1]
In those days traveling from one place to another was very tedious and it was mainly by river. Yet Mar Thoma III tried to visit as many parishes as possible.
Kadampanad is a very fertile land near Adoor in the Pathanamthitta district. Christians there believe that they came from Nilakkal (a first-century Christian settlement) and built a church at a place called ‘’Nilakkal Mukal’’ there in AD 325 known as St. Thomas church. Later it was moved to the present position and was named St. George's Valiyapally. [2] [3] Later on renamed as St Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad and recently was made a Marthoman Pilgrim centre by the Orthodox Syrian Church.
It was to this church, Mar Thoma made a visit in 1688. While he was there, he had a sudden death on 21 April 1688 and was interred there.
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 Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, is an autonomous Reformed Oriental church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is reformed in its theology and doctrines. It employs a reformed variant of the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James, translated to Malayalam.
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.
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.
Alexander Mar Thoma XIX Metropolitan was the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church with its center in Kerala state in south-western India.
Mar Thoma I, also known as Valiya Mar Thoma and Arkkadiyokkon Thoma in Malayalam and Thomas de Campo in Portuguese was the first native-born, popularly-selected Metropolitan bishop of the Puthenkoor faction of the Saint Thomas Christians or Saint Thomas Christians. He was the last Archdeacon of the undivided St. Thomas Christians of Malankara (Maliyankara).
Mar Thoma II was the second Metropolitan of the Malankara Church from 1670 to 1686.
Juhanon Mar Thoma XVIII Metropolitan was the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1949–1976, who gave leadership to the church and at the same time actively participated in social and political arenas. He was respected by people from all walks of life, from all religions and from all age groups. He is remembered for providing the church with its famous motto "Lighted to Lighten". His humanistic and socially-engaged approach to the Christian faith was embodied in his personal credo: "The Church must be interested where human life is interested."
Mar Thoma V was the 5th Malankara Metropolitan from 1728 to 8 May 1765. He was born as Ousep to the Pakalomattom family, one of the oldest families in Kerala. 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.
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.
Titus II Mar Thoma Metropolitan was the head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church with its center in Kerala state in south-western India. He was known as Thithoos Dwitheeyan Mar Thoma Metropolitan among his people.
Titus I Mar Thoma Metropolitan was known as Thithoos Mar Thoma Metropolitan was the second Mar Thoma Metropolitan (1893–1909) after the Malankara Church split as the Orthodox and reformist factions.
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.
Mar Thoma VII was a Bishop of the Malankara Church from 1796 and the 7th Malankara Metropolitan from April 1808 to July 1809. He was born in Pakalomattom family in Kurichithanam, Pala.He was well known as an efficient administrator, deeply religious but was a quiet and reserved person. During his time, a difficult period in the history of Travancore State, the church was able to help Travancore government by depositing an amount as fixed deposit, which came to be known as Vattipanam.
Mar Thoma IX was the ninth Metropolitan of the Malankara Church in Kerala, India for a brief period in 1816. That year, he was consecrated Metropolitan by Mar Thoma VIII, but soon after his ordination he was dethroned by Pulikkottil Joseph who was appointed by the then British resident Colonel John Munroe.
Mar Thoma VIII was the 8th Metropolitan of the Malankara Church in Kerala, India from 1809 to 1816. He was a man of vision. It was during his time Malankara church opened the first formal educational institution, in Kerala. With the opening of Kottayam Suryani Seminary, modern education dawned in Kerala.
Mar Thoma IV was the 4th Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church in India, serving from 1688–1728. During his tenure, the church was subject to a number of persecutions.
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are traditional Christian denominations from Kerala, India, who trace their 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.
Mar Thoma Metropolitan, also known as Malankara Syrian Metropolitan or Malankara Metropolitan, is the title which is given to the Supreme Head of the Malankara Church. The Malankara Church was split into different factions over the years. However the Supreme Head of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church uses the title of Malankara Metropolitan, Mar Thoma Metropolitan and the Malankara Syrian Metropolitan upholding the autonomous character of the Malankara Church. The Current Malankara Syrian Metropolitan of The Holy Apostolic Throne of St Thomas is Dr Theodosius Mar Thoma of Malankara.