Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church

Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church (Jacobite Syrian Christian Church)
Syriac Orthodox Church Emblem
Independence	Apostolic Era
Recognition	Miaphysite - Oriental Orthodox communion
Primate	Syriac Patriarch- Ignatius Aphrem II
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.

It is believed that Saint Thomas Christians of Malabar were in communion with the Church of the East from 496 to 1599. They got episcopal support from Persian bishops, who traveled to Kerala in merchant ships through the spice route, while the local leader of the Saint Thomas Christians held the rank of Archdeacon and was a hereditary office held by the Pakalomattam family. In the 16th century, the overtures of the Portuguese padroado to bring the Saint Thomas Christians into Latin Rite Catholicism led to the first of several rifts in the community by Portuguese colonialists and the establishment of the Catholic and the Malankara Church factions. Since then, further splits have occurred, and the Saint Thomas Christians are now divided into several fragments. The Malankara Jacobite Church is one of three such groups that have remained part of Oriental Orthodoxy (the other being the Orthodox Syrian Church and Thozhiyoor Church).

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