Jacobite Syrian Christian Church

The Emperor Justin I supported the Chalcedonians, The non-Chalcedonian Severus Patriarch of Antioch exiled in Egypt and died on 538. At the situation of church remaining only three bishops, At that time Jacob Baradeus restoring the church by the help of Queen Theodra. The non-Chalcedonian church, that would later become the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch also known as Jacobite Syrian Christians. The Syrian Orthodox church of India adopted the Title as the respect of Jacob Baradeus.[21]

Puthencruz is the headquarters of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church in India Registered as a Society under Societies act of the Government of India. Its headquarters is named after the illustrious Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Zakka I Iwas. The property was bought and built under the leadership of the Catholicos of India Baselios Thomas I, after the church faced difficulties in continuing its functioning from its base at Muvattupuzha with the demise of Catholicos Baselios Paulose II.

• St. Athanasius Catholicate Cathedral, Puthencuriz[22]
• JSC Publications, The official publishing house of the church are also a part of the large complex.
• Malankara Jacobite Syrian Sunday School Association (MJSSA) is also based in Puthencruz.[23]
• St.Thomas College Arts and Science is also run in the premises of the Zakka centre.[24]
• Michael Dionysius(M.D) Book Stall, official book house of Jacobite Syrian Christian Church.[25]
• This is the place where Universal Malankara Convention, the official gospel convention of the community, that is generally conducted from 26 to 31 December of every year.

History and evolution of the Malankara church in a nutshell

It is believed that Saint Thomas Christians of Malabar were in communion with the Church of the East from 295 to 1599.[26] They received episcopal support from Syriac bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships along the spice route, while the local leader of the Saint Thomas Christians held the rank of Archdeacon; it was a hereditary office held by the Pakalomattam family. In the 16th century, the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into Latin Rite Catholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community due to Portuguese colonialists, and the establishment of the Syro-Malabar Church and the Malankara Church factions. Since then, further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several factions.

Saint Thomas Christians were administratively under the single native dynastic leadership of an Archdeacon (a native ecclesiastical head with spiritual and temporal powers, deriving from Greek term arkhidiākonos) and were in communion with the Church of the East, centered in Persia, from at least 496.[27][28] The indigenous Church of Malabar/Malankara followed the faith and traditions handed over by the Apostle St. Thomas. During the 16th century, the Portuguese Jesuits began deliberate attempts to annex the native Christians to the Catholic Church, and in 1599 they succeeded through the Synod of Diamper. Resentment against these forceful measures led the majority of the community under the Archdeacon Thomas to swear an oath never to submit to the Portuguese, known as the Coonan Cross Oath, in 1653. The Malankara Church consolidated under Thoma I welcomed Gregorios Abdal Jaleel, who regularized the canonical ordination of Thoma as a bishop.

Meanwhile, the Dutch East India Company defeated the Portuguese and gained supremacy over the spice trade in Malabar in 1663. The Malankara church used this opportunity to escape from Catholic persecution with the Dutch East India Company's help. At the request of the Malankara Church, the Dutch brought Gregorios Abdal Jaleel of Jerusalem, a bishop of the Syriac Orthodox Church, in their trading vessel in 1665. Thoma I forged a relationship with the Syriac Orthodox Church and gradually adopted West Syriac liturgy and practices.

As part of the Syriac Orthodox communion, the church uses the West Syriac liturgy and is part of the Oriental Orthodox group of churches. It has dioceses in most parts of India as well as in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Western Europe, the Persian Gulf, Australia and New Zealand nations. In 2003 it was estimated that the church has 1,000,000 (including Knanaya) members globally.[29]

Knanaya Syrian Community are claimed to be the descendants of a migrant group of Jewish Christians from Antioch. In AD 345, Malayalam calendar (kollavarsham),under the leadership of Knai Thoma and 72 families from Edessa (or modern Urfa) immigrated to Malabar (presently Kerala). This migration considered as a good turning point of Saint thomas Christians.The community belongs to priests, deacons and their bishop named Uraha Ouseph (Bishop Joseph of Uraha/Urfa). These colonist were welcomed by Cheraman Perumal of The Emperor of Kerala given special permission as 72 Royal Privileges Known as Thomas of Cana copper plates

Today, the majority of Knanaya are members of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Kottayam Archeparchy) and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (Knanaya Archdiocese) under guidance and directorate of Sevarios Kuriakose.

The highest rank in the ecclesiastical hierarchy is the Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II. The second-highest rank is the Maphrian Baselios Thomas I, also known as Catholicos of India of is the head of the Jacobite Syrian Church in India. Then there are Metropolitan bishops or Archbishops, and under them, there are auxiliary bishops.

Celebration of Holy Eucharist at St. Mary's Cathedral, Kundara

Jacobite Syrian Prayer Book of 1932

The liturgical service is called Holy Qurobo in the Syriac language meaning "Eucharist". Liturgy of Saint James is celebrated on Sundays and special occasions. The Holy Eucharist consists of Gospel reading, Bible readings, prayers, and songs. The recitation of the Liturgy is performed according to with specific parts chanted by the presider, the lectors, the choir, and the congregated faithful, at certain times in unison. Apart from certain readings, prayers are sung in the form of chants and melodies. Hundreds of melodies remain preserved in the book known as Beth Gazo, the key reference to Syriac Orthodox church music.[30]

The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Delegates of India is the representative of the patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church, who is sent to India to guide and administer the church, or on special occasions, as the representative of the Holy See of Antioch.[33] Every year, Syriac Orthodox Patriarchal Delegates participate in Manjanikkara Church Feast.[34][35]

Tomb of Baselios Yeldo Maphrian of the East(Catholicos) in the Marthoma CheriyaPally

"Catholicos" means "the general head", and can be considered equivalent to "universal bishop." The fourth-century ecumenical councils recognized the authority of the metropolitan. By the fifth century, the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch gained control of the churches in surrounding cities. They gradually became the heads of the regional churches, and were known as patriarchs (common father). Outside the Roman Empire, patriarchs were known as catholicos. After Nestorian Schism in the seventh century, the Syriac Orthodox Christians who lived in Persia began using the title for its Catholicos / Maphrian, who was originally the head of the Syriac Orthodox Christian community in Persia. This office ranked right below that Syriac Orthodox church hierarchy after the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, until it was abolished in 1860 and reinstated in the India of the East on 1964.

The Malankara Metropolitan was a legal title given to the head of the Malankara Church Nasrani Christians, by the Government of Travancore and Cochin in South India. This title was awarded by a proclamation from the King of Travancore and the King of Cochin. The Prime jurisdiction regarding the temporal, ecclesiastical, and spiritual administration of the Malankara Church.

The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church has the following dioceses

• List of Patriarchs of Antioch – to 518
• List of Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch – list from 518
  • Catholicos of the East
  • Catholicos of India
  • Maphrian
• Oriental Orthodox Church
• Saint Thomas Christians
• Manarcad church

• Alexander, George (2018). The Orthodox Dilemma (3rd rev. ed.). OCP Publications. ISBN 9781387922284.

• Official website