Maphrian

The Maphrian (Syriac: ܡܦܪܝܢܐ‎ Maphryānā (in east syriac), also rendered as mafriono (in west syriac), was the prelate in the Syriac Orthodox Church who ranked second in the hierarchy after the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. The Maphrian, originally acted as the head of the church, in a position similar to an exarch, within the Sassanian Empire and lands outside the control of the Roman Empire. The title was abolished in 1860 as a result of a decreasing number of Jacobites outside of the Tur Abdin region, however was resurrected in 1964 to be used by the head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church as Catholicos of India, retaining the position as the second highest prelate of the wider Syriac Orthodox Church.

The title derives from the Syriac word 'afri', which means “to make fruitful’, or "one who gives fecundity", it may also come from the verb "aphri" which means "father" or "parent". The title was used to distinguish the Miaphysites from the Nestorians who were headed by the Catholicos in Ctesiphon.

The ecclesiastical dignity dates back to the seventh century however its origins began with the instatement of the Catholicos of the East in the fifth century, which was made to unite Christians within the Sassanian Empire under a single ecclesiastical authority and act as a link with the Christians within the Roman Empire. However, after the Nestorian Schism in 431, the teachings of Nestorius were branded heretical at the First Council of Ephesus and Nestorians were forced to relocate to the Sassanian Empire. From this point on the catholicate became increasingly Nestorian, forcing the few remaining Persian Miaphysites, such as Philoxenus of Mabbug, into exile.

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