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Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan

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Not to be confused with Catholicos of the East or Malankara Metropolitan.
Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan
Catholicos Baselios Marthoma Mathews III
Location
CountryIndia
Information
First holderThoma I as Malankara Metropolitan,

Baselios Paulose I as Catholicos of the East,

Baselios Geevarghese II as (Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan)
DenominationMalankara Orthodox Syrian Church
RiteWest Syriac Rite
Established1653 (by Thoma I - Malankara Metropolitan)
1912 (by Patriarch Ignatius Abded Mshiho II - Catholicate of the East)
CathedralMar Eliyah Cathedral, Kottayam

The leader of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church uses the title Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan. The incumbent 'Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan' is Baselios Marthoma Mathews III.[1]

History

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The Catholicos of the East is an ecclesiastical title originally used for the patriarch of the Church of the East in Sassanid Empire from around 424. Since 628, the Maphrian of the East, who led the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sassanid territory also started claiming the title.

The leaders of the Puthenkoor faction of the Saint Thomas Christians were called Malankara Metropolitans since the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653.[2]

In 1909 Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Abd-Allah II appointed Geevarghese Dionysius Vattasseril as Malankara Metropolitan. But later the Malankara Metropolitan who was at loggerheads with the Patriarch declared independence from the Patriarch. The Patriarch deposed him and appointed a new Malankara Metropolitan in his stead.[3][4]

In the meantime, the deposed former Patriarch Ignatius Abded Mshiho II arrived in Kerala in 1912 on the invitation of Dionysius. He, at the request of Dionysius, announced the relocation of the Maphrianate of the East to India and appointed Paulos Ivanios Murimattathil as the Catholicos of the East with the regnal name Baselios Paulus I. This triggered a lasting split the community and from then on, those who followed the Malankara Metropolitan was called the "Metran party" (later Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and followers of Patriarch and the new Malankara Metropolitan he appointed were called the "Bawa party" (later Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church).[5][6][7]

Organization

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  • The Church is in the Oriental Orthodox family following the Orthodox faith of the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople and Ephesus.
  • The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church and the chief Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch.[8]
  • The Orthodox Syrian Church of the East is an autocephalous branch of the Orthodox Syrian Church and the chief Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East is the Catholicos of the East aka Maphrian.[8]
  • The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is an autonomous metropolitan Archdiocese of the Orthodox Syrian Church of the East. The Primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is called the Malankara Metropolitan.
  • The two titles, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, are with separate responsibilities, but have been always held by the same individual in accordance with the constitution of the Church adopted in 1934.
  • As Catholicos of the East, he consecrates bishops for the Indian Orthodox Church, presides over the synod, declares and implements its decisions, conducts the administration on behalf of the synod, and consecrates the Holy Mooron (oil).
  • As Malankara Metropolitan[9]., he is the head of the Malankara Church, the President of the Malankara Syrian Christian Association and the Managing Committee. The prime jurisdiction regarding the temporal, ecclesiastical, and spiritual administration of the Indian Orthodox Church is vested in the Malankara Metropolitan subject to the provisions of the Church constitution adopted in 1934.[10][11]
Baselius Marthoma Mathews III

Malankara Metropolitan

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Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, vested in the ceremonial robes of the Malankara Metropolitan

Malankara Metropolitan is the episcopal title given by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and Travancore State government to the head of the historic Malankara Church.[12][2]

The main responsibility for the secular administration of the Church rests with the Malankara Metropolitan. Powers of the Malankara Metropolitan is to convene and preside over committees such as the Malankara Association and the Managing Committee, and to act as Metropolitan Trustee to administer the common church properties in cooperation with the Priest and Laity Trustees.[12][2]

Catholicos of the East

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"Catholicos of the East (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church)" redirects here. For other uses of the title, see Catholicos of the East.
Baselios Marthoma Mathews III as Catholicos of the East

The Catholicos of the East is a primatial title that came into usage in the Malankara Church during the schism of 1912. The office of the catholicos, called the catholicate, was established by Patriarch Ignatius Abded Mshiho II, at the request of Dionysius Geevarghese Vattasseril, as a sign of jurisdictional independence from the reigning Patriarch Ignatius Abded Aloho II. Baselios Paulos I Murimattathil was the founding Catholicos of the Church. Their reasoning to its establishment was that the Malankara Church was under the Church of the East in ancient times and therefore, it can be seen as the only remaining Oriental Orthodox part of the Persian Church. Hence the Maphrianate or Catholicate of the East is to be present in India.[13]

The Catholicate of the East is autocephalous in nature and enjoys the right to administer the responsibilities of the Patriarch of Antioch in the Malankara Church as the Vicar of the Patriarch. The powers of the Patriarch that are delegated to the Catholicos include the consecration of bishops, presiding over the episcopal synod, canonization of saints, and consecration of the Holy Myron. The Patriarch remains superior to the Catholicos and retains his historical powers in the Malankara Church but he is expected to administer his powers only in conjunction with the Catholicos.[14] A Indian Supreme Court ruling determined that the Patriarch of Antioch's power in the Malankara Church had reached a "vanishing point" following the catholicate's establishment.[15]

List of primates

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List of Malankara Metropolitans till 1934

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List of Catholicoi upto 1934

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  1. Baselios Paulose I (1912–1913)
  2. Baselios Geevarghese I (1925–1928)
  3. Baselios Geevarghese II (1929–1964)

List of Catholicoi of the East and Malankara Metropolitans since 1934

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Primates after the 1975 schism

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ "Catholicate | Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church".
  2. ^ a b c M. P. Joseph; Uday Balakrishnan; Istvan Perczel (2014-05-30). Leustean, Lucian N. (ed.). Syriac Christians in India. Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-81865-6.
  3. ^ Attwater, Donald (1937). The Dissident Eastern Churches. Bruce Publishing Company. p. 272.
  4. ^ Brock, Sebastian P. (2018). "Thomas Christians". In Beth Mardutho (ed.). Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  5. ^ Lossky, Nicholas; Bonino, José Miguez; Pobee, John, eds. (1991). "Oriental Orthodox Churches". Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement. Geneva: World Council of Churches. p. 756-757.
  6. ^ "The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church". Catholic Near East Welfare Association. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
  7. ^ Attwater, Donald (1935). "The Malankarese". The Catholic Eastern Churches (1937 revised ed.). Bruce Publishing Company. p. 197.
  8. ^ a b "Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Constitution" (PDF). 1934. The Malankara Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church. The Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch.
  9. ^ "1934 constitution(മലങ്കരസഭ ഭരണഘടന)". Archived from the original on 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  10. ^ "The Catholicate of the Malankara orthodox Syrian Church |".
  11. ^ "The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church" (PDF). 2006-11-23 [1934-12-26]. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-07-09.
  12. ^ a b Varghese, Alexander P. (2008). The Jacobite Church in India. India: History, Religion, Vision and Contribution to the World. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 357-380. ISBN 978-81-269-0903-2.
  13. ^ Kiraz, George A. (2011). Maphrian. Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition. Gorgias Press.
  14. ^ SCI (2017):It may be that by this act of revival of Catholicate and the Kalpanas A-13 and A-14, the Patriarch is not denuded of the powers delegated by him to the Catholicos — assuming that these powers were not already possessed by the Catholicos and that they came to be conferred upon him only under A-13 and A-14 — yet, reasonably speaking, the Patriarch was, and is, expected to exercise those powers thereafter in consultation with the Catholicos and the Malankara Sabha (Association) — and, of course, in accordance with the 1934 Constitution. This was necessary for the reason (i) to avoid creating parallel authorities leading to conflict and confusion and (ii) the acceptance by the local people was a sine qua non for any Metropolitan or melpattakar in Malankara Church as provided in the Mulanthuruthy Synod (convened and presided over by the then Patriarch himself) and given a judicial sanction by the judgment of the Travancore Royal Court of Appeal aforementioned. Without removing the Catholicos in accordance with the canon law and the principles of natural justice, the Patriarch could not have purported to exercise unilaterally the powers delegated by him to the Catholicos under A-14.
  15. ^ SCI (2017). "K.S. Varghese vs St.Peter'S & Paul'S Syrian Orth.. on 3 July, 2017". Indian Kanoon. Retrieved 29 October 2024. This Court accepted the revival of the Catholicate on a threadbare scrutiny of the recorded facts and held that it was no longer open to the Patriarch or his followers to contend that the revival of Catholicate was not in accordance with the religious tenets and faith of the Syrian Jacobite Christian Church, and that the power of the Patriarch was reduced to a vanishing point due to revival of Catholicate. It was ruled that the power and authority of the Catholicos was affirmed in Kalpana A-13 and A-14 issued by the Pariarch and was re-enforced and enlarged in the 1934 Constitution. It was however noted that the Catholicos did at the same time not repudiate the spiritual supremacy of the Patriarch. It reaffirmed that he is the primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church.
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