During the 18th century there were no less than four formal
attempts to reconcile the Catholic and Malankara Orthodox
Syrian Churches all of which failed. In 1926, a group of five
Malankara Orthodox Syrian bishops who were opposed to the
jurisdiction of the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch in India
commissioned one of their own number, Mar Ivanios, to open
negotiations with Rome with a view to reconciliation. They
asked only that their liturgy be preserved and that the
bishops be allowed to retain their dioceses. After
discussions, Rome required only that the bishops make a
profession of faith and that their baptisms and ordinations be
proven valid in each case. Pope Pius XI graciously accepted
the condition and welcomed the reunion.
In the event, only two of the five bishops accepted the new
arrangement with Rome, including Mar Ivanios, who had founded
the first monastic communities for men and women in the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Accordingly, Archbishop Mar
Ivanios and his followers made their profession of faith on
20th September, 1930 and were duly received into the Catholic
Church. By the apostolic constitution, Christo Pastorum
Principi, Pope Pius XI constituted the Malankara hierarchy on
11th June, 1932 with Mar Ivanios as archbishop of Trivandrum
and Mar Theophilos as the suffragan bishop of Thiruvalla. Mar
Ivanios took possession of his Metropolitan See of Trivandrum
on 12th March, 1933. These two bishops, a priest, a
deacon and a layman were received into the Catholic Church
together on September 20, 1930. Later in the 1930s two more
bishops, from among those who had favored the jurisdiction of
the Syrian Patriarch in India, were received into communion
with Rome.
This triggered a significant movement of faithful into the
new Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. By 1950 there were some
65,588 faithful, in 1960 112,478, and in 1970 183,490. There
are now three dioceses for over 325,000 faithful, all in
Kerala State, India.
The Syro-Malankara Church is the third hierarchy of the
Catholic Church in India. It is granted all the rights and
privileges and its own liturgy and legitimate customs of the
Antiochian Rite, and also administrative autonomy. The married
clergy was retained but was asked to observe priestly celibacy
in the future. The Church also has adopted a few laws, customs
and practices of the Latin Rite. The Syro-Malankara Catholic
Church plays an important role in the educational field in
Kerala: in addition to Mar Ivanios College in Trivandrum, the
church administers 270 schools and six colleges. It also has
13 hospitals.
This church has also promoted the ecumenical movement in
India. The diocese of Tiruvalla owns the St. Ephraim
Ecumenical Research Institute in Kottayam, which brings
together Catholics and Orthodox of the St. Thomas tradition to
study their common liturgical heritage and patrimony. Mar
Baselios, the new head of the Syro-Malankara Church, has been
a member of the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the
two Oriental Orthodox jurisdictions in India since 1988.
The Syro-Malankara Church, at present, has one
Archdiocese at Trivandrum
with three suffragan dioceses of
Thiruvalla,
Sultan Battery and at
Marthandoum. There are more
than 300,000 faithful with 5 bishops,500 priests. There are
twelve Syro-Malankara Catholic worshiping communities in the
United States and Canada, and five in Germany.
__________________________________________________
