Abraham of Angamaly

The last two East Syriac bishops of Malabar were Joseph Sulaqa and Mar Abraham; both arrived in Malabar after the arrival of the Portuguese.[7][8]

There is no doubt that Joseph Sulaqa's appointment was canonical, for he, the brother of the first Chaldean patriarch Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa, was appointed by his successor Abdisho IV Maron and sent out to Malabar. Mar Joseph was sent to India with letters of introduction from the Pope to the Portuguese authorities; he was besides accompanied by Bishop Ambrose, a Dominican and papal commissary to the first patriarch, by his socius Father Anthony, and by Mar Elias Hormaz, Archbishop of Diarbekir. They arrived at Goa about 1563, and were detained at Goa for eighteen months before being allowed to enter the diocese. Proceeding to Cochin they lost Bishop Ambrose; the others travelled through Malabar for two and a half years on foot, visiting every church and detached settlement.[7]

By 1567, Latin authorities asked him to make enquiries into the conduct and doctrine of the prelate suspected for propagating "Nestorian error"; in consequence of this the first provincial council was held and Joseph Sulaqa was sent to Portugal in 1568, thence to Rome, where he died shortly after his arrival.[7]

Tomb of last East Syriac Metropolitan Mar Abraham inside the Madbaha of Mar Hormizd Syro-Malabar Church, Angamaly

While Joseph Sulaqa was leaving India there arrived from Mesopotamia another bishop named Mar Abraham, sent by Shemon VII Ishoyahb the East Syriac Patriarch. He succeeded in entering Malabar undetected at the appearance of another Chaldean who proclaimed himself a bishop. The people were greatly delighted and received him with applause; he at once set about holding episcopal functions and conferring holy orders, and quietly established himself in the diocese.[9] Later, the Portuguese captured him and sent him to Portugal, but during the journey he escaped at Mozambique, found his way back to Mesopotamia, and went straight to Mar Abdisho IV Maron, the Chaldean Patriarch, having realized from his Indian experience that, unless he secured a nomination from him, it would be difficult to establish himself in Malabar. He succeeded admirably, obtained nomination, consecration, and a letter from the patriarch to the pope. With this he proceeded to Rome, and in an audience with the Pope disclosed his position.[10] The Pope ordered the Bishop of San Severino to give him orders from tonsure to priesthood, and a Brief was sent to the Patriarch of Venice to consecrate him a bishop. The facts are attested, both as to the minor orders and the episcopal consecration, by the original letters found in the archives of the Church of Angamaly, where he resided and where he died.[7]

Abraham succeeded also in obtaining his nomination as Archbishop of Angamaly from Pope Pius IV, with letters to the Archbishop of Goa and the Bishop of Cochin dated 27 February 1565.[7]

On arrival at Goa, he was detained in a convent, but escaped and entered Malabar. His arrival was a surprise and a joy to the people. He kept out of the reach of the Portuguese, living among the churches in the hilly parts of the country. In time he was left in peaceful occupation. As is usual in such cases the old tendencies assumed once more their ascendency, and he returned to his teaching and practices, Complaints were made by Jesuits; Rome sent warnings to Abraham to allow Catholic doctrine to be preached and taught to his people. At one time he took the warning seriously to his heart. In 1583 Father Valignano, then Superior of the Jesuit Missions, devised a means of forcing a reform. He persuaded Mar Abraham to assemble a synod, convening the clergy and the chiefs of the laity. He also prepared a profession of faith which was to be made publicly by the bishop and all present. Moreover, urgent reforms were sanctioned and agreed to. A letter was sent by Pope Gregory XIII on 28 November 1578, laying down what Abraham had to do for the improvement of his diocese; after the synod, Abraham sent a long letter to the pope in reply, specifying all that he had been able to do by the aid of the Fathers. This is called the first reconciliation of the Syrians to the Church. It was formal and public, but left no improvement on the general body, the liturgical books were not corrected nor was Catholic teaching introduced in the Church.[7][11]

Mar Hormizd Syro-Malabar Church (Old Cathedral), built by Mar Abraham.

Front view of Mar Hormizd Syro-Malabar Church which houses the tomb of Mar Abraham

After his escape from Portuguese detention in Goa, Mar Abraham returned to Angamaly in 1570. In the same year, he built his first cathedral church dedicated to Rabban Hormizd, a seventh century Abbot of the East Syriac Church, as its patron. In 1578, as a response to the requests made by Jesuit missionaries who had been working in Angamaly and in the other centres of the Saint Thomas Christians, the pope granted plenary indulgences to the Church of Rabban Hormizd, which the faithful could obtain four times a year for 25 years from the year of the election of Metropolitan Mar Abraham. The indulgences covered two feasts of the Patron Rabban Hormizd that fell on the fifteenth day after Easter (Monday) and on the first of September. On 15 August 1579, as requested by Mar Abraham, the Jesuits laid the foundation stone of a new cathedral namely "Rabban Hormizd" in the same place chosen by the Metropolitan.[12] The Synod of Diamper of the year 1599, prohibited the Christians from commemorating the feast of Rabban Hormizd, since Rabban Hormizd was considered a Nestorian heretic by the Latin missionaries. Session 3, Canon 14 of the Synod severely condemned Rabban Hormizd. According to the new regulations, the Synod commanded as planned by Archbishop Menezes that the Christians celebrate the feast of St. Hormizd, the Martyr (according to the Roman Martyrology published from Rome in 1583), a Persian Catholic saint who lived in the fifth century, suppressing the memory of Rabban Hormizd. The Feast was fixed on 8 August according to the Canon 10 of the Session 2 of the Synod of Diamper.[13][14][15]

The efforts of Archbishop Menezes and the Portuguese missionaries to replace Rabban Hormizd as patron of St. Hormizd church with St. Hormizd the martyr is an instance of sixteenth-century attempts at forced Latinization. It is doubtful whether the Christians immediately accepted this change of patronage. Bishop Francis Ros, the first Latin bishop of the Saint Thomas Christians, attempted to get the decree of the Synod of Diamper accepted with the Second Synod of Angamaly that he convoked in December 1603.[16] St. Hormizd, the Martyr of Persia,[17] is a historical person who lived in the fifth century in Persia.

In 1595, Mar Abraham fell dangerously ill but recovered.[18] In 1597 he again became dangerously ill. Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes wrote and exhorted him to reform his people, but for answer only got frivolous excuses.[19] He would not even avail himself of the exhortations of the Fathers who surrounded his bed, nor did he receive the last sacraments. Thus he died in January 1597.[20] The viceroy made known his death to Archbishop Menezes, then absent on a visitation tour, by letter of 6 Feb. 1597.[7] The Archdeacon during the first part of the reign of Mar Abraham was George of Christ, who was on friendly terms with the Latin missionaries and was to be appointed the successor of Mar Abraham as Metropolitan of India. Thus he should have become, according to the plans of Mar Abraham, supported by the Jesuits, the first indigenous Chaldaean Metropolitan of the St Thomas Christians. However, the last letter of Mar Abraham, in which he requests the Pope to confirm George's ordination as Bishop of Palur and his successor, is dated 13 January 1584, while from another letter of the same Mar Abraham we learn that the consecration of George failed because of the latter's death.[21]

The tomb of Mar Abraham was discovered in September 2015, in the sanctuary of St. Hormizd Church in Angamaly on the occasion of the renovation of the church. This church has witnessed many of the revolutions of the Christians of St. Thomas in the past against the new Latin hierarchy imposed upon them after the Synod of Diamper. The Christians used to assemble around the tomb in order to discuss important matters and to adopt resolutions concerning their future proceedings. One of the resolutions at the tomb of Mar Abraham was made by all the Christians, immediately after his death in 1597. The second resolution was made in 1601, by about 200 Christians who withdrew their obedience to Francis Ros, S.J, the first Latin bishop of Angamaly.[22][23] A committee was appointed by Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, at a meeting of Syro-Malabar Church Historians and Ecclesiastical Dignitaries held at Kochi to decide on the investigation, protection, and preservation of the tomb. The committee consisted of Fr. Kuriakose Mundadan, Vicar and Rector of the Angamaly Basilica, Fr. Ignatius Payyappilly, Fr. Peter Kannampuzha (Executive Director of LRC), Prof. George Menachery, and Dr. Jomon Thachil.

• Synod of Diamper
• Christianity in India
• Church of the East
• Syrian Malabar Nasrani
• Hormizd, the Martyr
• Rabban Hormizd