Jacobite Christian
| Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobite Syrian Christian Church) |
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Syriac Orthodox Church Emblem
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| Independence | Apostolic Era |
| Recognition | Part of Syriac Orthodox |
| Primate | Partriarch of Antioch |
| Headquarters | Kochi, India |
| Territory | India |
| Possessions | India, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America |
| Language | Malayalam, English, Hindi, Syriac |
| Members | 1.2 Million(2003 CE) |
| Website | jscnews.org |
The Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, officially known as Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, is an integral branch of the Syriac Orthodox Church centered in Kerala, India. It recognizes the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch, currently Ignatius Aphrem II, as its supreme head. It functions as a largely autonomous unit within the church, under the authority of the Catholicos of India, currently Baselios Thomas I. Its members are part of the Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.Thomas the Apostle reached India in AD 52 and got followers from prominent families in Kerala. In AD 345 Knai Thoma along with 72 Syrian Families and Clergymen arrived Kerala and mark the beginning of Knanaya Syrian Ethnicity in Kerala. In AD 825 arrival of two bishops Mar Sabor and Mar Aproth enhanced the relationship between Saint Thomas Christians and the Church of the East. The local administration of the early Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala was done by archdeacons in the absence of a bishop. Archdeacons used to request for prelates from the Church of the East.
From the 16th century the Portuguese Jesuits attempted to forcefully bring the community into the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. In 1653, Mar Ahatallah came to Malankara. He was a Syrian Bishop who had converted to Catholicism. He was captured by the Portuguese enroute and was taken to Madras. Resentment of these measures lead a part of the community to join the Archdeacon, Thomas, in swearing never to submit to the Portuguese in the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653. The part of the church that resists the Latin power is known as the Malankara Syrian Church.
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Wikipedia