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Saint Thomas Christians
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The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are a number of Syriac Christian churches, adhered to by the Syrian Malabar Nasrani (Saint Thomas Christians) of Malabar coast (now Kerala) in Southern India.
These churches include:
Their traditions according to legend go back to first century Christian thought, and the seven churches that are believed to have been established by St.
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Encyclopedia
The Saint Thomas Christian denominations are a number of Syriac Christian churches, adhered to by the Syrian Malabar Nasrani (Saint Thomas Christians) of Malabar coast (now Kerala) in Southern India.
These churches include:
Their traditions according to legend go back to first century Christian thought, and the seven churches that are believed to have been established by St. Thomas the Apostle during his mission in Malabar.
Several lists exists on this regard one of which Thoman Parvam, a 17th century ducument include Churches at
Malayankara, Palayar, Koovakayal, Kokkamangalam, Kollam, Niranam, and Chayal.
Other lists include Church at Mylapore, Chennai, India.
Nasrani people
The Nasranis are an ethnic people, and a single community. As a community with common cultural heritage and cultural tradition, they refer to themselves as Nasranis. However, as a religious group, they refer to themselves as Mar Thoma Khristianis or in English as Saint Thomas Christians, based on their religious tradition flowing from the early Church of St.Thomas Christians or Saint Thomas tradition of Christianity.
According to tradition, Saint Thomas, whose missionary activities in South India spanned a couple of decades from AD 52 to 72, established seven churches in Malabar. These first century churches, according to tradition, were located, from north to south, at: Palayoor near Guruvayoor/Kunnankulam, Kodungalloor (believed to be the ancient Muziris of Pliny, and the Periplus, on the north bank of Periyar River today), Paravur on the south side of Periyar, Gokkamangalam or Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal or Nilakkal (the only inland church) and the Lakes or Kaayals, and finally Kollam. The visit of the Apostle Thomas to these places and to Mylapore on the East coast of India can be read in the Ramban Song of Thomas Ramban, set into 'moc', 1500.
However, from a religious angle, the Nasranis of today belong to various denominations as a result of a series of developments including Portuguese persecution (a landmark split leading to an public Oath known as Coonen Cross Oath) , doctrines and missionary zeal influence (split of Marthoma Church (1845) and St. Thomas Evangelical Church (1962) ), Patriarch/Catholicos issue ( split of Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church (1912) ).
Throughout Kerala, one can find Christian families that claim their descent from ancestors who were baptized by Apostle Thomas. St. Thomas Christians were classified into the caste system according to their professions, in accordance with the Hindu tradition, with special privileges for trade granted by the benevolent kings who ruled the area. After the eighth century when Hindu Kingdoms came to sway, Christians were expected to strictly abide by stringent rules pertaining to caste and religion. This became a matter of survival. This is why St. Thomas Christians had such a strong sense of caste and tradition, being the oldest order of Christianity in India. The Archdeacon was the head of the Church, and Palliyogams (Parish Councils) were in charge of temporal affairs. They had a liturgy-centered life with days of fasting and abstinence. Their devotion to the Mar Thoma Cross was absolute. Their churches were modelled after Jewish synagogues.
In short, the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala had blended well with the ecclesiastical world of the Eastern Churches and with the changing socio-cultural environment of their homeland. Thus, the Malabar Church was Hindu in culture, Christian in religion, and Judeo-Syro-Oriental in worship.
History
According to the first century annals of Pliny the Elder and the author of Periplus of the Erythraean sea, Muziris in Kerala could be reached in 40 days' time from the Egyptian coast purely depending on the South West Monsoon winds. The Sangam works Puranaooru and Akananooru have many lines which speak of the Roman vessels and the Roman gold that used to come to the Kerala ports of the great Chera kings in search of pepper and other spices, which had enormous demand in the West.
The lure of spices attracted traders from the Middle East and Europe to the many trading ports — Calicut, Cranganore, Cochin, Alleppey and Quilon — long before the time of Christ.
According to tradition, it was on a trading vessel plying between Alexandria and the Malabar coast that St. Thomas the Apostle arrived in Cranganore in AD 52. Saint Thomas the Apostle is said to have begun preaching the gospel to the already existing Jewish settlers in the Malabar coast and other local peoples.
St. Thomas established seven Christian communities or churches in Kerala. They are in Cranganore, Paravur (Kottakavu), Palayoor, Kokkamangalam, Niranam, Chayal (Nilackal) and Kollam (Quilon).
St. Thomas, it is believed, baptized also the Magi who adored the Infant Jesus and who were probably from Assyria or Persia. The Apostle preached also in other parts of India. In the year 72 he was martyred at Little Mount a little distance from St. Thomas Mount, and was buried at Mylapore, near the modern city of Madras.
If the tradition be critically discussed it must be admitted that several ancient writers
mention India as the scene of St. Thomas’ labours. Thus St. Ephraem, the Syrian (A.D. 300-378) in a hymn about the relics of St.Thomas at Edessa depicts Satan exclaiming, “The Apostle whom I killed in India comes to meet me in Edessa.” St. Gregory Nazianzen,(329-389), in a homily says; “What! were not the Apostles foreigners? Granting that Judea was the country of Peter, what had Saul to do with the Gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy? St. Ambrose (340-397) writes “When the Lord Jesus said to the Apostles, go and teach all nations, even the kingdoms that had been shut off by the barbaric mountains lay open to them as India to Thomas, as Persia to Mathew.”
Numerous other passages could be cited from various old liturgies and martyroligies which refer to the work of St. Thomas in India,and these passages at least show that the tradition that St. Thomas died in India was widespread among the early churches.
Rough chronology
Following is a rough chronology of events associated with St.Thomas Christianity.
- 30 The Crucifixion.
- 40s Apostle Thomas in the service of King Gondophares in Takshasila
- 52 Nov 21 Apostle Thomas, landed at Cranganore (Kodungalloor, in the present Thrissur District)
- 52-72 The Apostle builds 7 churches: Palayoor, Kodungaloor, Parur, Kokamangalam, Niranam, Nilackal, Kollam.
- 72 Jul. 3 Martyrdom of St. Thomas in the vicinity of Mylapore, Madras.
- 98-117 Mesopotamia and Assyria become Roman provinces.
- 190 Pantaenus, probably the founder of the famous Catechetical School of Alexandria, visited India and the Nasranies.
- 232 Sassanians become a major power.
- 325 Archbishop John, of Persia and Great India, at the first Ecumenical Council of Nicea.
- 345 Thomas of Cana from Persia landed at Cranganore with 72 families of immigrants.
- 340-360 By the Thazhekad Sasanam the Nasranies granted special rights and privileges.
- 345 Kuravilangad Church founded
- 400 North Pudukkad church founded.
- 480 St. Hormis church, Angamaly founded.
- 500 Enammavu church founded.
- 503 St. George church, Edappally founded.
- 510 Udayamperoor (Diamper) church built.
- 522 Cosmas Indicopleustes visits South India.
- 825 Mar Sabor and Mar Afroth at Quilon.
- 849 King Ayyanadikal of Venad, by the Tharisappalli copper plate grants reconfirms the 72 royal privileges of the Nazranies.
- 1293 Marco Polo, a Venetian traveller, visited the tomb of St. Thomas (at Mylapore),.
- 1490 Two Chaldean bishops John and Thomas in Kerala.
- 1493 May 4 Division of the world and mission lands between Spain and Portugal by Pope Alexander VI.
- 1498 May 20 Vasco de Gama lands at Kappad near Kozhikode.
- 1499 Cabral at Kozhikode.
- 1500 Joseph - a priest, meets Pope of Rome and says that Indian Christians accept the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch as their Pope.
- 1500 Nov 26 Franciscan Friars at Cochin.
- 1502 Nov 7 Vasco de Gama at Cochin.
- 1503 Dominican Priests at Kochi.
- 1503 Mar Yabella, Mar Denaha and Mar Yakoob from Persia in Kerala.
- 1503 Sep 27 Work commenced on Cochin Fort and the Santa Cruz church .
- 1514 Portuguese Padroado begun.
- 1514 Jewish migration from Kodungalloor to Kochi.
- 1514 Jun 12 Portuguese Funchal rule over Christians in India.
- 1524 Dec 24 Vasco de Gama buried at St. Francis Church, Fort Cochin.
- 1534 Nov 3 Goa Catholic Diocese erected. The Parishes of Kannur, Cochin, Quilon, Colombo and Sao Tome (Madras) belonged to it.
- 1540 The Franciscan Fr.Vincent De Lagos starts the Cranganore Seminary.
- 1542 May 6 St. Francis Xavier, Apostolic Nuncio in the East, reaches Goa.
- 1544-45 St. Francis Xavier in Travancore.
- 1548 Dominican Monastery founded in Cochin.
- 1549 Mar Abuna Jacob, A Chaldean Bishop, stayed at St. Antonio Monastery, Cochin.
- 1550 First Jesuit House in Kochi.
- 1552 Dec 3 Death of St. Francis Xavier.
- 1555 Mattancherry Palace was built by Portuguese for the King of Cochin.
- 1557 Pope Paul IV erects the Diocese of Cochin. Canonization process of Francis Xavier begun at Cochin.
- 1565 Archdiocese of Angamaly erected.
- 1567 Jews shifted Mattancherry.
- 1568 Synagogue of White Jews built in Cochin.
- 1577 Vaippicotta Seminary of the Jesuits started.
- 1579 Augustinians reached Cochin.
- 1583 Synod at Angamaly by Bishop Mar Abraham.
- 1597 Bishop Mar Abraham, the last foreign Archbishop, died and was laid to rest at St. Hormis church, Angamaly.
- 1599 Dec 20 Fr. Francis Roz was declared bishop of Angamaly.
- 1599 Jun 20-26 Archbishop Alexis Menezes convenes the Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor).
- 1600 Aug 4 Padroado rule imposed on Nazranies.
- 1601 Francis Roz was appointed as the first Latin bishop of the St. Thomas Christians.
- 1609 Dec.3 Erection of the Diocese of Cranganore. The Archdiocese of Angamaly suppressed.
- 1610 Dec 22 The Metropolitan of Goa limits the Pastoral Jurisdiction of Nazranies to Malabar.
- 1624 Dominican Seminary at Kaduthuruthy.
- 1626 Feb 5 Edappally Ashram started for the Religious Community of St. Thomas Christians
- 1652 Aug 23 Mar Ahathalla in Madras, not allowed to enter Kerala.
- 1653 Jan 3 Coonan Cross Oath at Mattancherry, Cochin.
- 1653 May 22 Archdeacon Thoma ordained Episcopa as Mar Thoma I at Alangad by the laying of hands by 12 priests.
- 1657 Apostolic Commissary Joseph of St. Mary OCD (Sebastiani), a Carmelite, in Malabar.
- 1659 Dec 3 The Vicariate of Malabar is erected by Pope Alexander VII.
- 1659 Dec 24 Joseph Sebastini bishop and appointed the Vicar Apostolic of Malabar.
- 1663 Jan 6 The Dutch conquer Cochin and destroy Catholic churches and institutions in Cochin, except the Cathedral and the church of St. Francis Assisi.
- 1663 Formation of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. The syrian christian splits with the ordination of Bishop Chandy.
- 1665 Mar Gregorius Abdul Jaleel from Antioch confirms the consecration of Marthoma I.
- 1670 Portugese start campaigning to bring Nazranis again under catholicism.Marthoma II is ordained.
- 1682 Seminary for Syrians at Verapoly.
- 1685 Orthodox Catholicos Baselios Eldho arrives at Kothamangalam from Persia.
- 1686 Hortus Malabaricus in 12 volumes printed in 17 years.Mathoma III ordained by Mar Ivanios Hirudyathulla (from Antioch).
- 1688 Mathoma IV ordained by Mar Ivanios Hirudyathulla (from Antioch).
- 1709 Mar 13 Vicariate of Malabar is suppressed and the Vicariate of Verapoly is erected by Pope Clement XI.
- 1728 Mathoma V ordained by Marthoma IV
- 1772 First Malayalam book Sampskhepa Vedartham (Rome) by Clement Pianius.
- 1773 Pope Clement XIV suppresses the Jesuit Order, except in Russia and Prussia.
- 1782 Dec 16 Kariyattil Joseph elected Archbp. of Cranganore; Consecr. Lisbon 1783; Died Goa on the way back to Malabar,9th Sept. 1786.
- 1785 Varthamanappusthakam, the first written travelogue in India by Paremakkal Thomma Kathanar.
- 1795 Oct 20 Conquest of Cochin by the British.
- 1818 C.M.S missionaries in Kerala.
- 1838 Apr 24 Dioceses of Cochin and Crnaganore are annexed to the Vicariate of Verapoly.
- 1838 The Queen of Portugal suppressed all religious Orders in Portugal and in her mission lands.
- 1840 Apr 10 Kerala catholics came under the archdiocese of Verapoly.
- 1861 May 20 Bishop Rocos sent by the Patriarch of Chaldea reaches Kerala.
- 1867 May 7 Property donated by Syrians to the King of Portugal to start a Seminary at Aluva. It was administered by the Diocese of Cochin.
- 1867 The Portuguese Missionaries start a seminary at Mangalapuzha for Syrian students.
- 1874 Bishop Mar Elias Melus sent by the Patriarch of Chaldea reaches Kerala - Melus Schism.
- 1876-HH Patriarch of Antioch Petros III arrives in Kerala.He holds mulanthuruthy Synod.
- 1876 Marthoma Church offically separates from Orthodox Church by accepting Protestant christology.
- 1886 The Archdiocese of Cranganore is suppressed.
- 1887 May 19 The St. Thomas Christians are totally segregated from the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Verapoly and from the Padroado.
- 1912 Re-instatement of Persian Orthodox Catholicos of the East in India by HH Abdul Messiah, Patriarch of Antioch.
- 1923 Dec 21 Establishment of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy with Ernakulam as the Metropolitan See, and Trichur, Changanacherry and Kottayam as Sufragan Sees.
- 1930 Sept 20 Syro-Malankara Catholic Church separates from Orthodox Church by accepting Pope of Rome, under the leadership of Archbishop Mar Ivanios.
- 1932 June 11 The establishment of the Syro-Malankara Hierarchy by Pope Pius XI. Mar Ivanios becomes Archbishop of Trivandrum, and Mar Theophilus Bishop of Tiruvalla.
- 1934 Orthodox Church accepts new constitution.
- 1947 Nov 2 Bishop Gheevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala declared first native Indian saint along with Catholicos Baselios Eldho.
- 1950 July 18 The Portuguese Padroado over the Diocese of Cochin (from 1557 Feb. 4 till 1950 July 18) suppressed and the Diocese of Cochin handed over to native clergy.
- 1952 Dec 28-31 Jubilee Celebration of St. Thomas and St. Francis Xavier at Ernakulam.
- 1956 Nov.1 The present ‘Kerala State’ is established.
- 1972 Fraction split in Orthodox Church as 'jacobite fraction' and 'Orthodox fraction'.
- 1972 Dec.27, The 19th Centenary of the Martydom of St. Thomas the Apostle is celebrated at Ernakulam under the auspices of Orthodox, Catholic, Jacobite, Marthoma and C.S.I. Churches.
- 1973 July 3 The Governor of Kerala and the Cardinal release the St. Thomas Stamp and the T.En.II for sale.
- 1986 Feb. 1-10 Visit of Pope John Paul II to India.
- 1986 Feb. 8 Fr. Chavara Kuriakose Elias and Sr. Alphonsa are proclaimed blessed by Pope John Paul II.
- 2005 Feb. 10 Pope John Paul II elevated the Archdiocese of Trivandrum to a Major Archdiocese, elevating the Archbishop to Major Archbishop (called Catholicos by Syro-Malankara Catholics)
Historical references to St. Thomas
There are many early Christian writings, which belong to centuries immediately following the first Ecumenical Council of 325 exist about St.Thomas mission.
- The Acts of Judas Thomas : Century: 2nd/3rd (c. 180-230)
Gist of Testimony : The Apostles cast lots as to where they should go, and to Thomas, twin brother of Jesus, fell India. Thomas was taken to king Gondophares as an architect and carpenter by Habban. The journey to India is described in detail.After a long residence in the court he ordained leaders for the Church, and left in a chariot for the kingdom of Mazdei. There, after performing many miracles, he dies a martyr.
Clement of Alexandria- Century: 3rd (d.c. 235) Church represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical Note : Greek Theologian, b. Athens, 150.
Gist of Testimony : Clement makes a passing reference to St. Thomas’ Apostolate in Parthia. This agrees with the testimony which Eusebius records about Pantaenus visit to India.
- Doctrine of the Apostles-Century: 3rd Century, Church represented: Syrian
Gist of testimony : “After the death of the Apostles there were Guides and Rulers in the Churches…..They again at their deaths also committed and delivered to their disciples after them everything which they had received from the Apostles;…(also what) Judas Thomas (had written) from India”.
“India and all its own countries, and those bordering on it, even to the farther sea, received the Apostle’s hand of Priesthood from Judas Thomas, who was Guide and Ruler in the Church which he built and ministered there”. In what follows “the whole Persia of the Assyrians and Medes, and of the countries round about Babylon…. even to the borders of the Indians and even to the country of Gog and Magog” are said to have received the Apostles’ Hand of Priesthood from Aggaeus the disciple of Addaeus
Origen Century : 3rd (185-254?) quoted in Eusebius,Church represented: Alexandrian/ Greek Biographical. Christian Philosopher, b-Egypt, Origen taught with great acclaim in Alexandria and then in Caesarea.
Gist of Testimony : He is the first known writer to record the casting of lots by the Apostles. Origen original work has been lost; but his statement about Parthia falling to Thomas has been preserved by Eusebius. “Origen, in the third chapter of his Commentary on Genesis, says that, according to tradition, Thomas’s allotted field of labour was Parthia”.
- Eusebius of Caesarea Century : 4th (d. 340) Church Represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical
Gist of Testimony : Quoting Origen, Eusebius says: “When the holy Apostles and disciples of our Saviour were scattered over all the world, Thomas, so the tradition has it, obtained as his portion Parthia….”
Ephrem Century : 4th Church Represented: Syrian Biographical
Gist of Testimony : Many devotional hymns composed by St. Ephraem, bear witness to the Edessan Church’s strong conviction concerning St. Thomas’s Indian Apostolate. There the devil speaks of St. Thomas as “the Apostle I slew in India”. Also “The merchant brought the bones” to Edessa.
In another hymn apostrophising St. Thomas we read of “The bones the merchant hath brought”. “In his several journeyings to India, And thence on his return, All riches, which there he found, Dirt in his eyes he did repute when to thy sacred bones compared”. In yet another hymn Ephrem speaks of the mission of Thomas “The earth darkened with sacrifices’ fumes to illuminate”. “A land of people dark fell to thy lot”, “a tainted land Thomas has purified”; “India’s dark night” was “flooded with light” by Thomas.
- Gregory of Nazianzus Century : 4th (d. 389) Church Represented: Alexandrian/Greek Biographical Note : Gregory was born A. D. 330, consecrated bishop by his friend St. Basil in 372 his father, the Bishop of Nazianzus induced him to share his charge. In 379 the people of Constantinople called him to be their bishop. By the Greeks he is emphatically called “the theologian’.
Gist of Testimony : “What? were not the Apostles strangers amidst the many nations and countries over which they spread themselves?…Peter indeed may have belonged to Judea; but what had Paul in common with the gentiles, Luke with Achaia, Andrew with Epirus, John with Ephesus, Thomas with India, Mark with Italy?”
Ambrose of Milan Century : 4th (d. 397) Church Represented: Western Biographical Note : St. Ambrose was thoroughly acquainted with the Greek and Latin Classics, and had a good deal of information on India and Indians. He speaks of the Gymnosophists of India, the Indian Ocean, the river Ganges etc. a number of times.
Gist of Testimony : “This admitted of the Apostles being sent without delay according to the saying of our Lord Jesus… Even those Kingdoms which were shut out by rugged mountains became accessible to them, as India to Thomas, Persia to Mathew..”
St. Jerome testimony : “He (Christ) dwelt in all places: with Thomas in India, Peter at Rome, with Paul in Illyricum.”
- St. Gaudentius ( Bishop of Brescia, before 427)
St. Gaudentius testimony : “John at Sebastena, Thomas among the Indians, Andrew and Luke at the city of Patras are found to have closed their careers.”
- St. Paulinus of Nola (d. 431)
St. Paulinus testimony :“Parthia receives Mathew, India Thomas, Libya Thaddeus, and Phrygia Philip”.
- St. Gregory of Tours (d. 594)
St. Gregory of Tours testimony : “Thomas the Apostle, according to the narrative of his martyrdom is stated to have suffered in India. His holy remains (corpus), after a long interval of time, were removed to the city of Edessa in Syria and there interred. In that part of India where they first rested, stand a monastery and a church of striking dimensions, elaborately adorned and designed. This Theodore, who had been to the place, narrated to us.’
- St. Isidore of Seville in Spain (d. c. 630)
St. Isidore of Seville testimony : “This Thomas preached the Gospel of Christ to the Parthians, the Medes, the Persians, the Hyrcanians and the Bactrians, and to the Indians of the Oriental region and penetrating the innermost regions and sealing his preaching by his passion he died transfixed with a lance at Calamina,a city of India, and there was buried with honour”.
- St. Bede the Venerable (c. 673-735)
St. Bede testimony : “Peter receives Rome, Andrew Achaia; James Spain; Thomas India; John Asia"
Early history
Doctrine of the Apostles states that, “India and all its countries . . . received the Apostle’s hand of priesthood from Judas Thomas….” There are no documentary proof early primates for Church of St. Thomas Christians. From an early period the Church of St. Thomas Christians came in to a life long relationship with the Church of Persia, which was also established by St. Thomas the apostle according to early Christian writings. Primate or Metropolitan of Persia consecrated bishops for the Indian Church, this Church was also brought indirectly under the control of Seleucia.
Church of the East traces its origins to the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, said to be founded by Saint Thomas the Apostle. Other founding figures are Saint Mari and Saint Addai as evidenced in the Doctrine of Addai and the Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari. This is the original Christian church in what was once Parthia: eastern Iraq and Iran. Geographically it stretched in the medieval period to China and India. The See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon developing within the Persian Empire, at the east of the Christian world, rapidly took a different course from other Eastern Christians.
The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day Iznik in Turkey), convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325, was the first Ecumenical council of the Christian Church, and most significantly resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. It is documented that Mar John, the Bishop of Great India attended the council.The prelate signs himself as “John the Persian [presiding over] the Churches in the whole of Persia and Great India.” We have no proofs that Bishop John was the actual reigning prelate of Great India, and it is very improbable that a bishop could exercise direct and immediate jurisdiction over two such distant bishoprics as Persia and India. The signature of the bishop also merely implies the ultimate control he held over the Indian Church.
Some centuries following, the Persian Church suffered severe persecutions. The persecuted Christians and even Bishops, at least on two occasions, sought an asylum in Malabar.
The Rock crosses of Kerala found at St.Thomas Mount and through out Malabar coast has inscriptions in Pahlavi and Syriac. It is dated from 6th to 7th century.
In 825 AD, the arrival of two bishops are documented , Mar Sapor and Mar Prodh. Le Quien says that “these bishops were Chaldaeans and had come to Quilon soon after its foundation. They were men illustrious for their sanctity, and their memory was held sacred in the Malabar Church. They constructed many churches and, during their lifetime, the Christian religion flourished especially in the kingdom of Diamper.”
Medieval period
Prior to the Portuguese arrival in India in 1498, the Assyrian Church of the East See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon provided "Prelates" to the Saint Thomas Christians in India. This practise continued even after the arrival Portuguese till the Synod of Diamper (held in Udayamperoor) at 1599.
There are many accounts of missionary activities before the arrival of Portuguese in and around Malabar.John of Monte Corvino, was a Franciscan sent to China to become prelate of Peking about the year 1307.He traveled from Persia and moved down by sea to India, in 1291, to the Madras region or “Country of St. Thomas” .There he preached for thirteen months and baptized about one hundred persons. From there Monte Corvino wrote home, in December 1291 (or 1292).That is one of the earliest noteworthy account of the Coromandel coast furnished by any Western European. Traveling by sea from Mailapur, he reached China in 1294, appearing in the capital “Cambaliech” (now Beijing)
Odoric of Pordenone who arrived in India in 1321. He visited Malabar, touching at Pandarani (20 m. north of Calicut), at Cranganore, and at Kulam or Quilon, proceeding thence, apparently, to Ceylon and to the shrine of St. Thomas at Mailapur near Madras. He writes he had found the place where Thomas was buried.
Father Jordanus, a Dominican, followed in 1321-22. He reported to Rome, apparently from somewhere on the west coast of India, that he had given Christian burial to four martyred monks. Jordanus, between 1324 and 1328 (if not earlier), probably visited Kulam and selected it as the best centre for his future work; it would also appear that he revisited Europe about 1328, passing through Persia, and perhaps touching at the great Crimean port of Soidaia or Sudak. He was appointed a bishop in 1328 and nominated by Pope John XXII in his bull Venerabili Fratri Jordano to the see of Columbum or Kulam (Quilon) on 21 August 1329. This diocese was the first in the whole of the Indies, with juristriction over modern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, and Sri Lanka.
Either before going out to Malabar as bishop, or during a later visit to the west, Jordanus probably wrote his Mirabilia, which from internal evidence can only be fixed within the period 1329-1338; in this work he furnished the best account of Indian regions, products, climate, manners, customs, fauna and flori given by any European in the Middle Ages - superior even to Marco Polo's. In his triple division of the Indies, India Major comprises the shorelands from Malabar to Cochin China; while India Minor stretches from Sind (or perhaps from Baluchistan) to Malabar; and India Tertia (evidently dominated by African conceptions in his mind) includes a vast undefined coast-region west of Baluchistan, reaching into the neighborhood of, but not including, Ethiopia and Prester John's domain.
In 1347, Giovanni de' Marignolli visited the shrine of St Thomas near the modern Madras, and then proceeded to what he calls the kingdom of Saba, and identifies with the Sheba of Scripture, but which seems from various particulars to have been Java. Taking ship again for Malabar on his way to Europe, he encountered great storms.
Another prominent Indian traveler was Joseph, priest over Cranganore. He journeyed to Babylon in 1490 and then sailed to Europe and visited Portugal, Rome, and Venice before returning to India. He helped to write a book about his travels titled The Travels of Joseph the Indian which was widely disseminated across Europe.
When the Portuguese arrived on the Malabar Coast, the Christian communities that they found there had had longstanding traditional links with the See of Seleucia-Ctesiphonin Mesopotamia.
During the subsequent period, in 1552, a split occurred within the Church of the East. Part of it joined Rome, so that besides the Catholicosate of the East another, Chaldean Patriarchate was founded, headed by the Patriarch Mar Yohannan Sulaqa (1553-1555). Both claim to be the rightful heir to the East Syrian tradition. It is very difficult to see the precise influence of this schism on the Church of Malabar as there was always overtones to Rome in earlier centuries. Apparently, both parties sent bishops to India.
The last East Syrian Metropolitan before the schism, Mar Jacob (1504-1552), died in 1552. Catholicos Simeon VII Denkha sent a prelate to India, in the person of Mar Abraham, who was later to be the last Syrian Metropolitan of Malabar, after having gone over to the Chaldaean side. It is not known when he arrived in Malabar, but he must have been there already by 1556. Approximately at the same time, Chaldaean Patriarch Abdisho IV (1555-1567), the successor of Yohannan Sulaqa (murdered in 1555), sent the brother of John, Mar Joseph, to Malabar as a Chaldaean bishop; although consecrated in 1555 or 1556, Mar Joseph could not reach India before the end of 1556, nor Malabar before 1558. He was accompanied by another Chaldaean bishop, Mar Eliah.
This development in the history of St. Thomas Christians happened at the advent of the Portuguese colonization of the Malabar Coast.
Colonialism and St Thomas Christians
The Portuguese erected a Latin diocese in Goa (1534) and another at Cochin (1558) in the hope of bringing the Thomas Christians under their jurisdiction. In a Goan Synod held in 1585 it was decided to introduce the Latin liturgy and practices among the Thomas Christians.
Alexis de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa from 1595 until his death in 1617 decided to bring the Kerala Christians to obedience after the death of Bishop Mar Abraham (the last Syrian Metropolitan of Malabar, laid to rest at St. Hormis church, Angamaly), an obedience that they conceived as complete conformity to the Roman or ‘Latin’ customs. This meant separating the Nazranies not only from the Catholicosate of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, but also from the Chaldaean Patriarchate of Babylon, and subjecting them directly to the Latin Archbishopric of Goa.
The Portuguese refused to accept the legitimate authority of the Indian hierarchy and its relation with the East Syrians, and in 1599 at the Synod of Diamper (held in Udayamperur), the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa imposed a large number of Latinizations. The Portuguese succeeded in appointing a Latin bishop to govern the Thomas Christians, and the local Christians’ customs were officially anathematised as heretical and their manuscripts were condemned to be either corrected or burnt. The Portuguese padroado (’patronage’) was extended over them. From 1599 up to 1896 these Christians were under the Latin Bishops who were appointed either by the Portuguese Padroado or by the Roman Congregation of Propaganda Fide. Every attempt to resist the latinization process was branded heretical by them. Under the indigenous leader, archdeacon, the Thomas Christians resisted, but the result was disastrous.
The oppressive rule of the Portuguese padroado provoked a violent reaction on the part of the indigenous Christian community. The first solemn protest took place in 1653, known as the Kunan Kurishu Satyam (Bent Cross Oath). Under the leadership of archdeacon Thoma a section of the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath in Matancherry, Cochin, that they would not obey the Portuguese bishops and the Jesuit missionaries. In the same year, in Alangad, Archdeacon Thomas was ordained, by the laying on of hands of twelve priests, as the first indigenous Metropolitan of Kerala, under the name Mar Thoma I.
Later, in 1665, an Antiochean Syriac Orthodox bishop called Mar Gregorios Abdul Jaleel arrived in India and the group under the leadership of the archdeacon Mar Thoma welcomed him. The Bishop Mar Gregorios was sent by the Antiochian Syrian Orthodox Patriarch in a Dutch ship, this movement resulted in the Mar Thoma party claiming Spiritual authority of the Antiochean Patriarchate and gradually introduced the West Syrian liturgy, customs and script to the Malabar Coast.
This was the starting point of division among the Syrian Christians in Kerala who till then were one Church. Though most of the Thomas Christians gradually relented in their strong opposition to the Western control, the arrival of Mar Gregorios in 1665 marked the beginning of a formal schism among the Thomas Christians. Those who accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of Mar Gregorios became known as "Jacobites", and form the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church within the Syriac Orthodox Church. Those who continued with East Syrian theological and liturgical tradition and stayed faithful to the Synod of Diamper and the latinization imposed by it are known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in communion with the Catholic Church.
St. Thomas Christians by this process got divided in to East Syrians and West Syrians.
Further divisions
In 1772 the West Syrians under the leadership of Kattumangattu Abraham Mar Koorilose, Metropolitan of Malankara, formed the Malabar Independent Syrian Church (Thozhiyur Sabha).
In 1874 a section of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from Thrissur came in to communion with Patriarch of the Church of the East in Qochanis as a result of schism followed after the arrival of Bishop Rocos ( 1861 ) Mar Elias Melus ( 1874) sent by the Patriarch of Chaldean. They follow the East Syrian tradition and are known as Chaldean Syrian Church.
However, in 1912 due to attempts by the Antiochean Patriarch to gain temporal powers over the Malankara Church, there was another split in the West Syrian community when a section declared itself an autocephalous church and announced the re-establishment of the ancient Catholicosate of the East in India. This was not accepted by those who remained loyal to the Patriarch. The two sides were reconciled in 1958 but again differences developed in 1975. Today the West Syrian community is divided into Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion, autocephalous), Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion, under Antioch).
In 1926 a section of West Syrians under the leadership of Mar Ivanios came into communion with the Catholic Church, retaining all of the Church’s rites, Liturgy, and autonomy. They are known as Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
In 1961 , saw the break away of St. Thomas Evangelical Church from the Marthoma Church .
Today the community is divided into Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion), Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church (in Oriental Orthodox Communion), and Mar Thoma Church.
Nasrani religious jurisdictions
(in alphabetical order by Communion)
Demography
On a rough reckoning, about 70% to 75% of the Christians in Kerala belong to the St. Thomas Christianity spread across different denominations; the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Marthoma Syrian Church, the Chaldean Syrian Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church.
Some members of the Latin Church and Church of South India also trace their origin to St. Thomas Christianity.
St.Thomas Christianity>| Church Name | Population |
|---|
| Syro-Malabar Church | 3,674,115 | | Syro-Malankara Church | 408,725 | | Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church | 2,000,000 * | | Church of South India | 3,800,000 @ | | Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Syrian Church | 2,000,000 * | | Mar Thoma Church | 1,000,000 | | Chaldean Syrian Church | 30,000 | | Malabar Independent Syrian Church | 10,000 | | St. Thomas Evangelical Church | 10,000 |
- According to one estimate, the combined population of these two churches is only 1,750,000
@ This is the world population of CSI [|Church of South India]
It may be stated that the data as tabulated above are in direct conflict with India's official census data which place the total Christian population in Kerala at 6.06 million in the year 2001. Accordingly, the population of St Thomas Christians in Kerala (who form 70%-75% of the total Christian population in the State as suggested above) may be in the region of 4.2 to 4.5 million. (Please also see the article Demographics of Kerala in Wikipedia.)
See also
External links
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