Pre-Coonan Cross Oath It is believed that the Saint Thomas Christians in Malabar came into contact with the Persian
Church of the East in the middle of the 4th century. Saint Thomas Christians looked to Catholicos-Patriarch of the Church of the East for ecclesiastical authority. Although the bishops from the Middle East were the spiritual rulers of the Church, the general administration of the Church of Kerala was governed by the indigenous Archdeacon. The Archdeacon was the head of Saint Thomas Christians. Even when there were more than one foreign bishop, there was only one Archdeacon for the entire community. In 1597, Abraham of Angamaly died. The Catholic
Portuguese padroado Archbishop of Goa,
Aleixo de Menezes, downgraded the Angamaly Archdiocese into a suffragan diocese of the
Archdiocese of Goa and appointed the
Jesuit Francisco Ros as Bishop of Angamaly. Menezes held the
Synod of Diamper in 1599 to bring the Saint Thomas Christians under the complete authority of the
Latin Church.
Coonan Cross Oath The oppressive rule of the Portuguese padroado eventually led to a revolt in 1653, known as the
Coonan Cross Oath. The Thomas Christians including their native priests assembled in the church of Our Lady at
Mattancherry near
Cochin, formally stood before a crucifix and lighted candles and solemnly swore an oath upon the Gospel that they never again accept another European prelate. The exact wording used in Coonan Cross Oath is disputed. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of Latin Catholics.
Post-Coonan Cross Oath After the Coonan Cross Oath, the leaders of Saint Thomas Christians assembled at
Edappally, where four senior priests
Anjilimoottil Itty Thommen Kathanar of Kallisseri,
Palliveettil Chandy Kathanar of Kuravilangad,
Kadavil Chandy Kathanar of Kaduthuruthy and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar of Angamaly were appointed as advisors of the Archdeacon. On 22 May 1653, at a general meeting held in
Alangad, twelve priests laid hands on Archdeacon Thoma, proclaiming him bishop. After the consecration of Thoma I, The information about this consecration was then communicated to all the churches. The vast majority of churches accepted Thoma I as their bishop. At this point of time, Portuguese authorities requested direct intervention of Rome and hence Pope sent Carmelite Missionaries in two groups from the
Propagation of the Faith to Malabar headed by Fr. Sebastiani and Fr. Hyacinth. Fr. Sebastiani arrived first in 1655 and began to speak directly with the
Thoma I. Fr. Sebastiani, with the help of Portuguese, gained the support of many, especially with the support of
Palliveettil Chandy,
Kadavil Chandy Kathanar and Vengoor Geevarghese Kathanar. These were the three of the four counselors of Thoma I, who had defected with Francisco Garcia Mendes, Archbishop of
Cranganore, before the arrival of Sebastaini, according to Jesuit reports. The other 32 churches and their congregations represented the nucleus from which the
Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church), the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the
Malabar Independent Syrian Church, the
Marthoma Syrian Church, and the
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church have originated. Abdal Jaleel consecrated Thoma I canonically as a bishop and regularised his episcopal succession. This led to the first lasting formal schism in the Saint Thomas Christian community. The visits of prelates from the
Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch continued since then and this led to gradual replacement of the East Syriac Rite liturgy with the
West Syriac Rite and the
Puthenkūttukār affiliated to the
Miaphysite Christology of the
Oriental Orthodox Communion. The
Pazhayakuttukar faction remained in communion with the Catholic and preserved the traditional East Syriac (Persian) liturgy and
Dyophysite Christology. They were also known as
Romo-Syrians or
Syrian Catholics. They also used the title
Malankara Church initially. Following the death of Palliveettil Chandy in 1687, the Syrian Catholics of the Malabar coast came under the parallel double jurisdiction of Vicariate Apostolic of Malabar under Roman Catholic Carmelites and Archdiocese of Cranganore under the Padroado. Thus many priests and laymen attempted to persuade the Pope to restore their Chaldean Catholic rite and hierarchy of the local church, and for the appointment of bishops from local priests. To represent their position, Kerala's Syrian Catholics
Joseph Kariattil and
Paremmakkal Thomma Kathanar went to
Rome in 1778. While they were in Europe, Kariatty Joseph Kathanar was installed in Portugal as the Archbishop of
Kodungalloor Archdiocese. While journeying home, they stayed in
Goa where Kariattil died before he could formally take charge. Before he died, Kariattil appointed Kathanar as the Administrator of Kodungalloor Archdiocese after him. The new administrator ran the affairs of the church, establishing his headquarters at
Angamaly. In 1790, the headquarters of the Archdiocese was shifted to
Vadayar, dodging the invasion of
Tippu Sultan. In the last four years of his life, Thomma Kathanar managed church administration from his own parish,
Ramapuram. Latin Catholic Carmelite clergy from Europe served as bishops, and the Church along with the Latin Catholics was under the
Apostolic Vicariate of Malabar (modern-day
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly). In 1887, the Holy See established two
Apostolic Vicariates,
Thrissur and
Kottayam (later Changanassery) under the guidance of indigenous Syro-Malabar bishops, and named the Church as "The Syro-Malabar Church" to distinguish them from the Latins. The Syro-Malabar Church shares the same liturgy with the Chaldean Catholic Church based in Iraq and the independent
Assyrian Church of the East based in
Iraq, including its archdiocese the
Chaldean Syrian Church of India. The Syro-Malabar Church is the third-largest particular church (
sui juris) in the Catholic Church, after the
Latin Church and the
Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The Catholic Saint Thomas Christians (
Pazhayakūttukār) came to be known as the Syro Malabar Catholics from 1932 onwards to differentiate them from the Syro-Malankara Catholics in Kerala. The Indian
East Syriac Catholic hierarchy was restored on 21 December 1923 with
Augustine Kandathil as the first
Metropolitan and Head of the Church with the name Syro-Malabar.
2020s In 2021, the Syro Malabar Synod of Bishops announced that the celebration of the Qurbana according to the
Second Vatican Council reform: the liturgy of the word would be celebrated
coram populo, while the rest of the Qurbana would be celebrated facing the altar. After hearing this announcement, many priests of the
Syro-Malabar Catholic Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly announced that they would continue their public facing Qurbana.
Pope Francis appointed
Cyril Vasiľ as the Pontifical Delegate and
Andrews Thazhath as Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese in matters of solving the crisis but was unsuccessful. On 7 December 2023,
Pope Francis wrote in a letter to
George Alencherry accepting his resignation as
Major Archbishop of Ernakulam–Angamaly. He also accepted the resignation of
Andrews Thazhath as the Apostolic Administrator and appointed
Bosco Puthur, due to Thazhath being the Archbishop of Trichur and President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. Pope Francis then made a video message to the people of Ernakulam-Angamaly asking them to only do the Uniform Mass starting Christmas and saying there will be punishment for those who do not. When Christmas came, only 290 Churches of 328 Churches held the Uniform Mass. The Vatican is now currently discussing further action. On 9 January 2024,
Raphael Thattil was elected as major archbishop by the Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops. Pope Francis confirmed the election, with Thattil now heading the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. ==Liturgy==