Mokx71 at 10:47, 20 April 2026

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{{short description|Title of the primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church}}
{{distinguish|Catholicos of the East|Malankara Metropolitan}}
{{Infobox diocese
| jurisdiction = Catholicos
| name = the East and Malankara Metropolitan
| latin =
| local =
| image = Malankara Metropolitan Mathews III.jpg
| image_size = frameless
| image_alt =
| caption = Catholicos [[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]]
| country = India
| territory =
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| metropolitan =
| deaneries =
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| suffragan_diocese =
| area_km2 =
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| population =
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| parishes =
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| denomination = [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]
| rite = [[West Syriac Rite]]
| established = 1653 (by [[Thoma I]] - Malankara Metropolitan)<br>1912 (by Patriarch [[Ignatius Abded Mshiho II]] - Catholicate of the East)
| cathedral = Mar Eliyah Cathedral, Kottayam
| coadjutor =
| map =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
|first_incumbent=Thoma I as Malankara Metropolitan,<br>
Baselios Paulose I as Catholicos of the East,<br>
Baselios Geevarghese II as (Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan)}}

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]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mosc.in/catholicate | title=Catholicate | Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church }}</ref>

==History==
The leaders of the ''Puthenkoor'' faction (also known as the Malankara Church) of the [[Saint Thomas Christians]] were called Malankara Metropolitans since the [[Coonan Cross Oath]] of 1653. Archdeacon [[Thoma I|Parampil Thoma]], the leader of the Coonan Cross Oath rebellion against the Portuguese Roman Catholic authorities, is known to be the first in this lineage. The protesting Christians met at the church in Alangad to discuss their further steps and declared Thoma as the Malankara Metropolitan. However, this episcopal ordination, which took place in the absence of another bishop, was questioned from the very beginning. Therefore Thoma sought help from other Eastern churches. Only the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch responded favorably to his plea and in the person of Archbishop Gregorios Abdal Jaleel recognised Thoma as bishop. In the following years, the Malankara Church moved further into an ecclesiastical union with the [[Syriac Orthodox Church]] of Antioch and its patriarch was recognised as the supreme spiritual leader of the Malankara Church.<ref name=":1" />

In 1909 [[Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch]] [[Ignatius Abded Aloho II|Ignatius Abd-Allah II]] appointed [[Dionysius of Vattasseril|Geevarghese Dionysius Vattasseril]] as Malankara Metropolitan. But soon 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.<ref name=Dis>{{cite book|title=The Dissident Eastern Churches|url=https://archive.org/details/dissidenteastern0000attw|author=Attwater, Donald|publisher=Bruce Publishing Company|date=1937|page=[https://archive.org/details/dissidenteastern0000attw/page/272 272]}}</ref><ref name=Go>{{cite book|title=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition|url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/Thomas-Christians|chapter=Thomas Christians|publisher=Gorgias Press|author=Brock, Sebastian P.|date=2018|editor=Beth Mardutho|access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref>

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 [[Baselios Paulose I|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 those who affirmed the rule of the [[Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East | Patriarch of Antioch in Syria]] and the new Malankara Metropolitan he appointed were called the "Bawa party" (later [[Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church]]).<ref name=WCC>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the Ecumenical Movement|chapter=Oriental Orthodox Churches|page=756-757|publisher=World Council of Churches|location=Geneva|editor1-last=Lossky|editor1-first=Nicholas|editor2-last=Bonino|editor2-first=José Miguez|editor3-last=Pobee|editor3-first=John|date=1991}}</ref><ref name=CNEWS>{{cite web|url=https://cnewa.org/eastern-christian-churches/oriental-orthodox-churches/the-malankara-orthodox-syrian-church/|title=The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church|publisher=Catholic Near East Welfare Association|access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref><ref name=cec>{{cite book|title=The Catholic Eastern Churches|url=https://archive.org/details/catholiceasternc0000attw|author=Attwater, Donald|chapter=The Malankarese|publisher=Bruce Publishing Company|date=1935|edition=1937 revised|page=[https://archive.org/details/catholiceasternc0000attw/page/197 197]}}</ref>

==Organization==
* The church is in the [[Oriental Orthodox]] family following the Orthodox faith of the three [[Ecumenical Councils]] of [[First Council of Nicaea|Nicaea]], [[First Council of Constantinople|Constantinople]] and [[First Council of Ephesus|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''.<ref name=mosc>{{cite web|title=Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Constitution|year= 1934|url= https://mosc.in/uploads/2015/05/MOSC-Constitution.pdf|quote=The Malankara Church is a division of the Orthodox Syrian Church. The Primate of the Orthodox Syrian Church is the Patriarch of Antioch.}}</ref>
* 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''.<ref name=mosc/>
* 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 [[bishop]]s 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]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ovsonline.in/1934-constitution-malankara-orthodox-church/|title=1934 constitution(മലങ്കരസഭ ഭരണഘടന)|access-date=2020-02-15|archive-date=2018-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180502165529/http://www.ovsonline.in/1934-constitution-malankara-orthodox-church/|url-status=dead}}</ref>., 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mosc.in/catholicate/catholicate|title=The Catholicate of the Malankara orthodox Syrian Church |}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church |date=2006-11-23 |orig-date=1934-12-26 |url=https://mosc.in/uploads/2015/05/MOSC-Constitution.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190126/https://mosc.in/uploads/2015/05/MOSC-Constitution.pdf |archive-date=2021-07-09}}</ref>
[[File:H.H Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.jpg|thumb|Baselius Marthoma Mathews III]]

==Malankara Metropolitan==
[[File:Morseverios.png|200px|thumb|Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, vested in the ceremonial robes of the Malankara Metropolitan]]

Malankara Metropolitan is the episcopal title given by the government [[Travancore State]] to the head of the historic [[Malankara Church]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7GKwhuea9kC| series=India: History, Religion, Vision and Contribution to the World|last=Varghese|first=Alexander P.|date=2008|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=978-81-269-0903-2|language=en|title=The Jacobite Church in India | page = 357-380}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yt6vAwAAQBAJ&dq=malankara+metropolitan&pg=PT573|title=Syriac Christians in India|series=Eastern Christianity and Politics in the Twenty-First Century| editor-last=Leustean| editor-first=Lucian N. |author1=M. P. Joseph |author3= Istvan Perczel|author2= Uday Balakrishnan|date=2014-05-30|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-81865-6|language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Catholicos of the East==
{{redirect|Catholicos of the East (Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church)|other uses of the title|Catholicos of the East}}
[[File:Baselius Mathews III.jpg|thumb|200px|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 [[Maphrian|Maphrianate]] or Catholicate of the East is to be present in India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kiraz |first=George A. |author-link=George A. Kiraz |url=https://gedsh.bethmardutho.org/entry/Maphrian |title=Maphrian |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2011 |series=Gorgias Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Syriac Heritage: Electronic Edition}}</ref>

The Catholicate of the East is autocephalous in nature and has 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 [[Chrism|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.{{sfnp|SCI|2017||ps=: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.}} An 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.<ref name=InSC2017>{{cite web |author=SCI|year=2017|title=K.S. Varghese vs St.Peter'S & Paul'S Syrian Orth.. on 3 July, 2017 |url=https://indiankanoon.org/doc/107194354/ |publisher=Indian Kanoon |access-date=29 October 2024|quote=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. }}</ref>

==List of primates==
===List of Malankara metropolitans till 1934===

*[[Thoma I|Marthoma I]] (1653–1670)
*[[Thoma II|Marthoma II]] (1670–1686)
*[[Thoma III|Marthoma III]] (1686–1688)
*[[Thoma IV|Marthoma IV]] (1688–1728)
*[[Thoma V|Marthoma V]] (1728–1765)
*[[Dionysius I, Metropolitan of Malankara|Dionysius I]] (Marthoma VI; 1765–1808)
*[[Thoma VII|Marthoma VII]] (1808–1809)
*[[Thoma VIII|Marthoma VIII]] (1809–1816)
*[[Thoma IX|Marthoma IX]] (1816–1817)
*[[Pulikkottil Dionysius II|Dionysius II]] (Pulikkottil Dionysius Joseph I; 1816–1816)
*[[Geevarghese Philoxenos II]] (Kidangan Geevarghese Mar Philexenos II; 1816–1818)
*[[Punnathra Dionysius III|Dionysius III]] (Punnathara Dionysius Geevarghese; 1818–1825)
*[[Dionysius IV of Cheppad|Dionysius IV]] (Cheppad Dionysius Philppose; 1825–1852)
*[[Mathews Athanasius]] (1852–1877)
*[[Pulikkottil Joseph Dionysious II|Dionysius V]] (Pulikkottil Dionysius Joseph II; 1864–1909)
*Dionysius VI (Vattasseril Dionysius Geevarghese; 1909–1934)

===List of catholicoses up to 1934===
#[[Baselios Paulose I]] (1912–1913)
#[[Baselios Geevarghese I]] (1925–1928)
#[[Baselios Geevarghese II]] (1929–1964)

===List of catholicoses of the East and Malankara Metropolitans since 1934===
*[[Baselios Geevarghese II]] (Catholicos: 1929–1964; from 1934 the two titles were held together)
*[[Baselios Augen I]] (1964–1975)

====Primates after the 1975 schism====
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews I]] (1975–1991)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews II]] (1991–2005)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Didymos I]] (2005–2010)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Paulose II]] (2010–2021)
*[[Baselios Marthoma Mathews III]] (2021–present)

==See also==
* [[Malankara Metropolitan]]
* [[List of Malankara metropolitans]]
* [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]]

== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090923113736/http://www.catholicate.org/ Official Website of The Catholicos of The East and Malankara Metropolitan ]
*[http://www.theorthodoxchurch.info/gal2/pages/i.htm Catholicos of The East and Malankara Metropolitan]{{dead link|date=August 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite web | url = https://stocc.org/about-st-thomas-orthodox-church | title = The Malankara Orthodox Church: Holy Synod and American diocese | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190110223518/https://stocc.org/holy-synod | archive-date = January 10, 2019 | url-status = live}}

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[[Category:Catholicoi of the East and Malankara metropolitans|*]]

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan - Revision history

Mokx71 at 10:47, 20 April 2026