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The sthathicon of Kadavil Paulose Mar Athanasius, 1877

A sthathicon (also transliterated sthathikon) or susthathikon is an ecclesial document of official authorization and agreement, typically certifying the consecration of bishops in Syriac Christianity.[1]: 100, 180 [2]

Description

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A sthathicon serves as an official document in some West Syriac Rite Christian denominations, verifying whether an individual is authorized clergyman within that church. According to tradition, the document was used in the time of Mar Mari in Early Christianity to identify Saint Thomas Christian clergy in India who had officially been recognized by Antioch's clergy.[1]: 99–100  These documents were used by Malankara Church officials in the 19th century to identify Oriental Protestants who had been educated by Anglican missionaries and declare their Holy Orders invalid.[1]: 180 

The sthathicon features in West Syriac ordination ritual. Following the Omologio, a proclamation of faith, an episcopal candidate is to read aloud a sthathicon. This sthathicon can be written by his own hand professing the true faith, promising to abide by the apostolic constitutions, obedience and allegiance to the Patriarchal Throne." After reading it, the candidate signs it and hands it to the catholicos.[3]

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) requires that a sthathicon be presented to bishops and metropolitans ("high priests" or "prelates") by the church's Catholicos.[4] Gheevarghese (later Dionysius of Vattasseril), who agitated for the independence of the Malankara Church from the Syriac Orthodox Church, was ordained by the then Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Abded Aloho II in 1908. However, Gheevarghese was denied the sthathikon that typically accompanied the office due to his denial of the patriarch's temporal authority over the Malankara Church.[5] When the MOSC was establishing a Western Rite mission in England following the influence of Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares, it submitted a sthathicon to S.D. Baba to certify him as a priest.[6] In the High Court of Kerala, the MOSC has argued that those without a sthathicon could not claim to be members of their clergy.[7]

After clergy of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, a part of the Syriac Orthodox Church, are consecrated by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch as metropolitans, they receive a sthathikon from the patriarch as the order to assume their new offices.[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Knight, Sarah (2019). Narratives of religious identity: the self-perception of the Jacobite Syrian Christians of Kerala (PDF) (PhD). Vol. 2. University of London. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas-I". Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church Ireland. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  3. ^ Kolliyelil, Thomas Prasobh. "Episcopate: Martyrdom for the Unity of the Sheep: Liturgical Ecclesiology of communion in the Episcopal Consecration in the West Syrian Tradition". Retrieved 12 October 2022 – via Academia.edu.
  4. ^ The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (PDF) (2006 ed.). Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. 1934. Retrieved 12 October 2022 – via MalankaraWorld.com.
  5. ^ Jerusalem Division Class X (English): Part II (PDF). Orthodox Syrian Sunday School Association of the East. November 2015. p. 80-81. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  6. ^ Philip, Ajesh T.; Alexander, George (2018). Western Rites of Syriac-Malankara Orthodox Churches: The Mission Untold. Alappuzha district, Kerala: Orthodox Cognate PAGE Publications. p. 161-162. ISBN 9781387803163 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ "Basselios Thomas I Catholicos vs Thomas Mar Athanasius on 2 December, 2002". High Court of Kerala. 2 December 2002. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  8. ^ "New Jacobite Metropolitans given warm reception". The New Indian Express. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
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