Pre-Coonan Cross Oath The
St. Thomas Christians, also known as
Nasranis, are an ancient Christian community in India with origins traditionally traced to the evangelistic activities of
Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century AD. Situated primarily in the southwestern state of
Kerala, the St. Thomas Christians developed a unique identity blending elements of Indian and
Syriac Christian traditions. They maintained a hierarchical ecclesiastical structure, often aligning with the
East Syriac Church (under the Church of the East) and later the
Chaldean Catholic Church. The community largely followed Eastern Christian liturgy, practiced Syriac liturgical traditions, and were in communion with the
Patriarch of the East based in
Persia. The arrival of Portuguese explorers in India in the late 15th century marked the beginning of significant European influence on the St. Thomas Christians. The Portuguese sought to bring the Indian Christians into conformity with the
Latin Church and asserted their religious and administrative control through the establishment of the
Diocese of Goa. This led to tensions, as the Portuguese pressured the community to abandon Eastern practices and adopt Latinized customs, culminating in the
Synod of Diamper in 1599, which formally placed the St. Thomas Christians under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Archbishopric of Goa and imposed Latin rites and customs. These measures sparked resistance among the St. Thomas Christians, who sought to preserve their traditions and ecclesiastical autonomy. By the mid-17th century, these grievances intensified, setting the stage for the historic Coonan Cross Oath.
Coonan Cross Oath A protest took place in 1653 with the
Coonan Cross Oath (Oath of the bent cross). Under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas, the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath that they would not obey the Jesuit Bishops. Rome sent Carmelites 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 archdeacon, 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 along with Thoma I, had defected with Francisco Garcia Mendes, Archbishop of
Cranganore, before the arrival of Sebastaini, according to Jesuit reports. In 1665,
Mor Gregorios Abdul Jaleel, a bishop sent by the
Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, arrived in India. The independent group under the leadership of the archdeacon welcomed him. Though most of the St. Thomas Christians gradually relented in their strong opposition to the Western control, the arrival of Bishop
Gregorios of the Syriac Orthodox Church in 1665 marked the beginning of a formal schism among the St. Thomas Christians. Those who accepted the West Syriac liturgical tradition of the
Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch of Gregorios became known as the
Puthenkoor. Those who were in the communion of Rome after the Synod of Damper and those who rejoined the Catholic communion from the
Puthenkoor church during the Carmelite period, came to be known as the
Pazhayakoor. Both factions continued to use the name "Malankara", the real name of the St. Thomas Christian community for the church. The remaining
Pazhayakoor Christians came to be known as the
Syro Malabar Church from the last decade of the Nineteenth century onwards. This ashram, founded on 15 August 1919, served as a center for spiritual renewal and monastic life, with an additional outreach for orphan care. His monastic vision expanded in 1925 with the founding of the Bethany Madhom, a convent for women religious, inspired by the Epiphany Sisters of England. Ivanios was consecrated as a bishop in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church by
Catholicos Beselios Geevarghese I on 1 May 1925, taking the name Geevarghese Ivanios. However, he later advocated for reunification with the Catholic Church, leading a movement that ultimately established the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
Ecclesial communion ,
Jacob Theophilos,
John Kuzhinapurath, Alexander, Chacko Kiliyilathu On 20 September 1930, Mor Ivanios, Bishop
Jacob Theophilos,
Fr. John Kuzhinapurath OIC, Dn. Alexander OIC, and Chacko Kilileth enterered into communion with the Catholic Church. The Union Movement under the leadership of Ivanios gave rise to Malankara Catholic Church. This took place in the Quilon bishop’s chapel. They were received by his Lordship Bishop Aloysius Maria Benziger (Bishop of Quilon), whom Ivanios approached for help and who was deputed by the Holy See to perform the reception.
Post-ecclesial communion Pope Pius XI, through the Apostolic Constitution
Christo Pastorum Principi of 11 June 1932, established the Syro-Malankara Catholic hierarchy for the reunited community and erected the Archeparchy of Thiruvananthapuram with the Eparchy of
Tiruvalla as its suffragan. The Metropolitan Eparchy of Thiruvananthapuram was established in 1933. Ivanios was enthroned as its first
Metropolitan Archbishop. The Eparchy of Tiruvalla was established in 1933. Jacob Theophilos was enthroned as its first bishop. In 1937,
Joseph Severios of the Malankara Orthodox Church joined the Catholic Church. In 1939, Thomas Dioscoros, the metropolitan of the Knanaya
Jacobite Church, joined the Catholic Church. In 1938, the missionary congregation of the
Daughters of Mary was founded at
Marthandom in Kanyakumari District. Bishop Dioscoros died in 1943. Ivanios consecrated
Benedict Gregorios as his auxiliary bishop in 1953. Ivanios died on 15 July 1953. The Eparchy of Tiruvalla was led by Jacob Theophilos and Joseph Severios. Severios was the administrator of the eparchy until 1950 due to the ill health of Theophilos. In 1950 he was appointed as the bishop of Tiruvalla. He was also invested with the title
archbishop. He died on 18 January 1955. In 1955, Metropolitan Archbishop Benedict Gregorios was enthroned as the metropolitan archbishop of
Thiruvananthapuram and the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. The Holy See appointed
Zacharias Athanasios as successor to Severios; his consecration took place in 1954.
Jacob Theophilos died in 1956.
Francis Acharya, a
Cistercian monk, came to the Eparchy of Tiruvalla. In the year 1957 he founded the
Kristiya Sanyasa Samaj, Kurisumala Ashram in the high ranges of Vagamon. In 1958, the territorial boundary of the Eparchy of Tiruvalla was extended north to include the
Malabar region of Kerala, the civil districts of
Coimbatore and Nilgiris and Karoor Taluk in Tiruchirappally District of Tamil Nadu and districts of Mysore, Mandya, Coorg, Hasan, Chickamangalore, Shimoga and South Kanara of Karnataka State. Athanasios died in 1977.
Paulos Philoxenos, the metropolitan of the
Malabar Independent Syrian Church, was received into the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church on 28 August 1977. The appointment of
Isaac Yoohanon as Bishop of Tiruvalla and erection of the
Eparchy of Bathery with the appointment of
Cyril Baselios as its first bishop through the decree of the Holy See took place in 1978. Both prelates were consecrated that year. The Eparchy of Bathery was officially inaugurated in 1978. In 1979 the Eparchial contemplative monastery, Dhyana Ashram, was founded in the Eparchy of Bathery by Fr. Silvester Kozhimannil. Lawrence Ephrem was consecrated bishop in 1980. Malankara Catholics within India but outside the canonical territorial boundaries of the Church were first organized as Malankara Catholic Associations, and later came to be erected as
personal parish communities. A coordinator was appointed to oversee them, in the Council of Hierarchs of the Malankara Catholic Church.
St. Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary, the first local seminary, was inaugurated at Pattom in 1983 and the new building was blessed at
Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram was blessed in 1989. On 8 February 1986,
Pope John Paul II visited
St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. On 28 April 1987, Yoohanon, the bishop of Tiruvalla died.
Cardinal Lourdusamy, the then prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, visited the Malankara Catholic Church in August 1987.
Geevarghese Timotheos succeeded Yoohanon as the bishop of Tiruvalla. He was consecrated bishop in 1988. Benedict Gregorios died in 1994 after serving 41 years.
Cyril Baselios, the bishop of Bathery having been appointed by Pope John Paul II, was enthroned as Metropolitan Archbishop of Thiruvananthapuram and as the head of the Malankara Catholic Church on 14 December 1995.
Geevarghese Divannasios was consecrated Bishop of Bathery in the place of Cyril Baselios on 5 February 1997.
Achille Silvestrini, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, visited the Malankara Catholic Church on 11–13 February 1996. On the request of Cyril Baselios, by an Apostolic Bull dated 16 December 1996, Pope John Paul II erected the
Eparchy of Marthandom bifurcating the Metropolitan Eparchy of Thiruvananthapuram.
Lawrence Ephrem was appointed as its first bishop. He died after a few months of his enthronement as Bishop of Marthandom, on 8 April 1997. In the meantime the Eparchy of Tiruvalla was blessed with an auxiliary bishop in the person of
Thomas Koorilos, who was consecrated bishop on 17 July 1997. On 29 June 1998
Yoohanon Chrysostom was consecrated as the bishop of Marthandom and
Joshua Ignathios as the auxiliary bishop for the Metropolitan Eparchy of Thiruvananthapuram. Paulos Philoxenos died on 3 November 1998. Christu Jayanthi Maha Jubilee and the Sapthathy of the Re-union Movement of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church were celebrated jointly at Tiruvalla on 26–28 December 2000. In this period parishes for the faithful of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the
United States of America were established. On 18 June 2001 Pope John Paul II nominated the Proto-Syncellus of Bathery Isaac Thottunkal, auxiliary bishop of Thiruvananthapuram and apostolic visitor for the Syro-Malankarites residing in North America and Europe. He was consecrated on 15 August 2001 at Tirumoolapuram, (Tiruvalla), and assumed the name
Isaac Cleemis. Bifurcating the Eparchy of Tiruvalla, the
Eparchy of Muvattupuzha was erected on 15 January 2003 and Thomas Koorilos was appointed as its first bishop. On 29 March 2003 Bishop Timotheos resigned due to his age, and the Holy See appointed Isaac Cleemis, the apostolic visitor to Europe and America, as the bishop of Tiruvalla. Cleemis took charge of the diocese on 2 October 2003. On 5 January 2005
Joseph Thomas was appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Thiruvananthapuram and apostolic visitor to North America and Europe. On 10 February 2005, the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church was raised to the status of a
major archiepiscopal Church by the papal document
Ab ipso Sancto Thoma, and as such possesses a high level of autonomy under the
Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Pedro López Quintana, the Apostolic Nuncio in India, read the official declaration at
St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. The Hierarchical Head of the Church became a
Major Archbishop who exercises patriarchal powers and governs the Church assisted by the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Church. On 19 February 2005, Joseph Thomas was consecrated as auxiliary bishop of Thiruvananthapuram and apostolic visitor to North America and Europe. On 11 April 2005 the Faculty of Theology of
St. Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary became affiliated to the
Pontifical Urban University, Rome. The enthronement of the
major archbishop as the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church took place on 14 May 2005. The Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Curia (Catholicate Centre) started functioning at the St. Mary's Campus, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. On 20 May 2005, Cyril Baselios blessed the Curia building. Baselios soon constituted the first synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, convened from 16 to 18 August 2005 at the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Thiruvananthapuram. It constituted the Permanent Synod and the various Synodal Commissions headed by bishops to take care of various apostolates of the Church. The official bulletin,
Malankara is published from the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, to communicate the Synodal acts and voice of the Syro-Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Church. The platinum jubilee of the Reunion Movement and the Year of the Eucharist were celebrated jointly at Mar Ivanios Nagar, Punnamoodu, Mavelikara, on 19–21 September 2005. By decrees of Baselios, the Metropolitan Province of Tiruvalla, with the Eparchies of Bathery and Muvattupuzha as suffragans, was established on 15 May 2006 and Isaac Cleemis was appointed as the metropolitan archbishop of Tiruvalla. On 10 June 2006 Isaac Cleemis was enthroned as the first metropolitan-archbishop of Tiruvalla. By the decree of Baselios, on 1 January 2007, the new
Eparchy of Mavelikara was erected and
Joshua Ignathios, the auxiliary bishop and protosyncellus of the Major Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, was appointed as its first bishop. The Second Ordinary Holy Episcopal Synod was convoked on 6–7 December 2006 and it was decided to revive monastic consecration according to the tradition of the Antiochene Church, properly termed Rabban per the Syriac, but locally called
Ramban; and
Corepiscopo, to honour a number of priests for their meritorious service in the Church. On 18 January 2007, Cyril Baselios died, and was entombed by the side of his predecessors at St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram on 20 January 2007. Isaac Cleemis was elected the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church through the first Episcopal Synod of election of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church held on 7–10 February 2007 at the Catholicate Centre, Pattom,
Thiruvananthapuram.
Pope Benedict XVI confirmed the election on 9 February and it was announced on 10 February at St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. in
Syro-Malankara Rite The installation of Aboon Joshua Ignathios was held on 16 February 2007 at Mavelikara and Aboon Geevarghese Divannasios, the administrator of The Malankara Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church, presided over the installation ceremony. The new eparchy has a 30,825 Syro-Malankara Catholic faithful of a total population of 2,998,325 inhabitants. Of this 269,849 are Malankara non-Catholics and 598,824 Christians of other denominations. On 7 February 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Fr. Chacko Aerath OIC as the
Apostolic Visitor with Episcopal status for the Malankara Catholic faithful residing in the Extraterritorial Regions of the Church within India.
Baselios Cleemis was enthroned as the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church on 5 March 2007 at St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram. In March 2007 the Aboon
Thomas Koorilos was appointed the Second Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archieparchy of Tiruvalla. His installation Ceremony was held in May 2007 at
St. John's Cathedral, Tiruvalla. Cleemis was the main celebrant. Baselios Cleemis visited Pope Benedict XVI on 28 May 2007 at the Vatican and exchanged ecclesiastical Communion. In July 2007 Baselios Cleemis declared Ivanios a
Servant of God. In accordance with the provisions of
CCEO can. 1063, the Ordinary Tribunal of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church was constituted on 15 November 2007. Aboon
Abraham Julios, PhD, was consecrated Bishop of the Eparchy of Moovattupuzha by Baselios Cleemis on 9 February 2008 at Moovattupuzha. Baselios Cleemis blessed the newly built Tomb Chapel of the Servant of God Ivanios in St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram, on 1 July 2008. at
St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram Leonardo Sandri, Cardinal Prefect of Congregation for the Oriental Churches, visited the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church on 10 November 2008. Holy Qurbono according to the Syro-Malankara Tradition was celebrated. Baselios Cleemis was the main celebrant. In the following meeting Cardinal Sandri recognized
Queen of Peace Pro-Cathedral at Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram, as a
Basilica. Cleemis dedicated
St. Mary, Queen of Peace Basilica on 7 December 2008. Cleemis created two new eparchies in the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church,
Pathanamthitta in
Kerala and
Puthur in the State of
Karnataka. He appointed four new bishops, elected by the Holy Episcopal Synod. He announced the transfer of Bishop of Marthandom
Yoohanon Chrysostom to the new See of
Pathanamthitta and Bishop
Geevarghese Divannasios from the
See of Bathery to the new See of Puthur.
Joseph Thomas, the Apostolic Visitator to
North America and
Europe was appointed Bishop of Bathery. To the See of Marthandom, vacant due to the transfer of its bishop, was appointed Vincent Kulapuravilai, Professor and Registrar of St. Mary's Malankara Seminary Thiruvananthapuram. Samuel Kattukallil, Syncellus of the Major Archeparchy of Thiruvananthapuram, and Stephen Thottathil, Dean of the Faculty of Theology of St. Mary's Malankara Seminary, were appointed auxiliary bishops of the
Major Archeparchy of Thiruvananthapuram and the
Archieparchy of Tiruvalla respectively. Antony Valiyavilayil, the Postulator of the Cause of Canonisation of Servant of God Archbishop Ivanios and the Chancellor of the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, was appointed the bishop of the Curia. The episcopal ordination of Bishops Vincent Paulos, Samuel Irenios, Philipose Stephanos and Thomas Anthonios took place at Ivanios Vidya Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram on 13 March 2010
Thomas Naickamparampil was appointed as the first exarch of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Exarchate in the United States by Pope Benedict XVI, with consultation by Cleemis and the Holy Synod of Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, on 14 July 2010. He was ordained bishop and received the name Aboon Thomas Eusebius on 21 September 2010 at St. Mary's Malankara Syrian Catholic Cathedral, Thiruvananthapuram. His installation ceremony was on 3 October 2010 at Kellenberg Memorial High School, Uniondale, New York. Baselios Cleemis was elevated to the
College of Cardinals of the
Catholic Church by Pope Benedict XVI at the
Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the
Vatican on 24 November 2012. As
Cardinal-Priest he was assigned the
titular church of
San Gregorio VII. He is the first bishop of the Syro-Malankara church and the fifth Keralite to become cardinal. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is fast growing in theological and canonical studies. Many authors have contributed to the development in the field of theology and canon law. Besides the canonical institutions of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, various associations including the
Malankara Catholic Youth Movement (MCYM), the
Malankara Catholic Association (MCA), and the Legion of Mary, Matruvedi, Pithruvedi, emerged. The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church engages in humanitarian activities. One example of such services is
Thapovanam, Shelter of Hope, Sulthan Bathery, a centre for the rehabilitation of the mentally ill. File:St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram.jpg|The latest image of St. Mary's Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram Image:SyroMalankara ireland.JPG|Syro-Malankara Catholics in Ireland with Dr. Joshua Ignathius. (Mavelikara Diocese Bishop) ==Liturgy==