Syro Malankara Catholic

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Seal of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Type	Particular church (sui iuris)
Classification	Catholic
Orientation	Eastern Christianity
Polity	Episcopal polity
Leader	H. B. Major Archbishop Cardinal Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis
Parishes	692
Liturgy	Divine Liturgy of Saint James (Malayalam & Liturgical Syriac)
Headquarters	Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Founder	Saint Thomas the Apostle
Origin	1st century, according to Catholic tradition
Separated from	Malankara Syrian Church
Merger of	Catholic Church
Separations	Malankara Church (1930)
Members	436,870
Ministers	Bishops:14 Priests: 546 Nuns: 1,688
Other name(s)	Malankara Syrian Catholic Church
Official website	Official site

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church (Malayalam: മലങ്കര സുറിയാനി കത്തോലിക്കാ സഭ) is an Eastern Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, the Pope. It is one of the twenty-three sui iuris Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic communion. The Church is headed by Major Archbishop Cardinal Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum in Kerala, India. The Church follows the West Syrian Rite liturgy of Saint James, which is also used in the Maronite Church, the Syriac Catholic Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church.

The Church traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. It is one of the two Eastern Catholic Churches from India, the other one being the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church which uses the East Syrian Rite liturgy. The Malankara Catholic Church was established on 20 September 1930 as a result of the re-union movement under the leadership of Archbishop Mar Ivanios, when it split from the Malankara Church and entered into communion with the Catholic Church. The Malankara Church itself had emerged from the split within the Saint Thomas Christian community of the 16th century; previously the entire community had comprised a province of the Church of the East, or the Nestorian Church, based in Persia. However, the collapse of the Church of the East and influence from the Portuguese, who tried to bring them under the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, led to a rift in the community. Eventually, the majority entered into communion with the Catholic Church, as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, while the rest formed the Malankara Church and aligned with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch. This latter group became gradually closer to the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, leading to a series of splits concerning the extent to which the Patriarch would be given authority.