The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church hereafter referred to as the Orthodox Church of India which is the second largest faction of the ancient church of the St Thomas Christians in India, which stood till 1657 as a single and united Church with an indigenous character of its own. This ancient church of the St. Thomas Christians is an Apostolic Church like all other Apostolic Churches around the world  and originated from the evangelical labours of St. Thomas – the Apostle not only of Malabar and South India but also of India and all of Asia.

In that sense this church is one of the Oldest Churches in the Christian world and also in India, because Roman Catholic Christians came to India only in the 16th century and Protestant Christians in the 18th century – all following Western colonialism. The Malankara Church is an indigenous Church with a distinctive heritage and characteristics of its own, deeply rooted in Indian soil. Moreover it is a church which stood for centuries in close contact with the East Syrian Church which once flourished in the present regions of Iraq and Iran. 

In the sixteenth century Roman Catholic missionaries came to Kerala. They tried to unite the Syrian Christians to the Roman Catholic Church and this led to a split in the community. Those who accepted Roman Catholicism are the present Syro-Malabar Catholics. Later, Western Protestant missionaries came to Kerala and worked among The Syrian Christians. This also created certain divisions in the community. In the seventeenth century, the Church came into relationship with the Antiochene Church, which again caused splits. As a result of this relationship, the Church received West Syrian liturgies and practices. The Church entered a new phase of its history by the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912.

At present, the Church is using the West Syrian liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381) and Ephesus (A.D. 431).

The Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches namely, Syriac, Alexandrian, Armenian, Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. The Church is in good ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches.

This Church now consists of about 2.5 million members, who are spread all over the world, though the majority reside in the state of Kerala in Southwest India. The Supreme Head of the Church and the present Catholicos is H.H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. H H’s residence and the Headquarters of the Church is in Kottayam in the Kerala State of the South-West India. The Church as a whole is divided into 32 ecclesial units called dioceses and each diocese is served by a bishop, administratively and spiritually.