The internet is filled with so many versions of our church history,
so much so that we get lost and do not know the truth from deception.
I wanted a basic outline of some of the complexities of our church
history and hence I have prepared the small(?:)) note below. Presenting
it before you for correction. I know there are several resources we
can refer to for further details, but I wanted a 1-2 page summary so
that I can be clear in my mind and can explain it to anyone in my
circle. Please go through this and correct me. Also hoping that this
outline may help others like me out there.
-------------------------------------
St.Thomas the apostle preached Christ in India. He converted 4
Namboothiri Brahman families from Kerala to Christianity.
Also he established 7 Churches in India. This would mean that
St.Thomas ordained priests and High Priests to shepherd the churches.
The following link may be useful.
http://www.stthoma.com/7church_overview.html
We do not know much about the existence of the church in India after
that till the coming of the Portuguese to India in the 16th Century.
We do know of activities in the church in Persia and elsewhere to
which there are reasons to believe we had ties with.
But surely the church in India existed and was doing ok. There is no
reason to doubt that the church continued her ministry (in however
small form) in the lineage of St.Thomas.
See the Catholicate lineage at:
http://www.icon.org.in/icon_lineage.icon
In 1599 we have the Synod of Dyampar which is well documented. Then
we have the Oath of Coonen Cross in 1653.From 1653 we had Malankara
Metropolitans. Mar Gregorios who was Metropolitan of the Syrian
Church for Jerusalem, came to India in 1653 to ordain Marthoma I and
Marthoma II (Malankara Metropolitans). This was done to help the
church in India, since we required help after the Roman Catholics
destroyed everything when we were under them. This was the begining
of a close alliance between the Syrian church of St.Peter and the
Indian Church of St. Thomas. What we did not realise at that time is
that the church trying to get out of the yoke of the R.C. Church
was falling under the influence of the Syrian church, which atleast
several centuries later some Patriarchs would try to take advantage
of, resulting in a feud that will turn brothers against brothers.
Baselios Mar Yeldho (Maphrian) came to India in 1655 when HG was 90
yrs old to strengthen the church.
http://www.syriacchristianity.org/bio/MorBaseliosYeldho.htm
(Note that the above link reflects a Jacobite view point and hence
the version of the history of the church is not in agreement with
the Indian Orthodox view point. Please use it only to get info
about St. Baselios Yeldho. It is sad that we do not have much
independent sources showing the history of this saint of our church,
a sad reflection of the mind games that has resulted from this
century old feud, hope some initiative will be made in this area to
correct this).
Till 1912 we had Malankara Metropolitans.All this while, the understanding was
that we are St.Thomas Christians, and that the
Patriarch was helping sustain this church originally established by
St.Thomas. (The see of St.Thomas or the Throne of St.Thomas, the
Patriarch was merely helping us sustain this see)We respected the
Patriarch and the Syrian leaders for their help in nurturing of the
faith, so we considered the Patriarch as the spiritual head.
Also the reliance on the Syrian church increased when we were
undergoing stress due to the formation of the Marthoma Church. The
Salmoosa of Parumala Thirumeni owing allegiance to the Patriarch
should be seen in the context of the schism in the church due to the
reformist ideas which resulted in the Marthoma church. Surely
Parumala Thirumeni also would have been aware though of the growing
tension in Malankara against the Patriarch. It was however Divine
Will that this saint would pass away in 1902.
We cherished our independence and freedom, we never wanted to
come under the yoke of the Syrian Patriarch in administrative
matters. Whenever the Patriarch tried to cross the line and put
pressure on administrative issues, there were problems. Also there
came a realization that it was impossible to look to Damascus for
all spiritual needs including consecration of Holy Mooron especially
since the Indian Church was begining to flourish in India. The
Indian Church established her own Seminary. There began to be
conflict of interests between the Syrian Patriarchs and the Indian
fathers, a factor to this was the weakening of the influence of the
Patriarchate the world over leaving India as the "greenest pasture"
for the Patriarchate.The problems with the Patriarch and the Indian
Church reached a boiling point in 1912.
In 1912 the Catholicate was established in Kerala by the then Senior
Syrian Patriarch HH Abdeh Messiah. This catholicate was established
in the lineage of St.Thomas (Apostolic see of St. Thomas, Apostolic
Throne of St. Thomas) as the Catholicate in Mosul\Tigris was when it
was established in 559 A.D. by Yakub Burdana.(The Catholicate
established in Tigris in 559 A.D. by Yakub Burdana was reduced to a
Maphrianate in 628 A.D. by the Syrian Church, the office of the
Maphrians continued till 1860 -- well after the rule of the
Malankara Metropolitans started in India in 1653. So the
establishment of the Catholicate in 1912 in Kerala was not a
transfer of the Maphrianate from Tigris under the Syrian Patriarch
but a Catholicate in all its glory, as it was when Yakub Burdana
established it in 559 AD in Mosul/Tigris. Yet since we were indebted
to the Syrian church for their timely help and due to closer
associations after 1653, the Indian Church acknowledged the
Patriarch as the Spiritual head.)Soon afterwards, the office of
Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicose of the East were merged. The
Catholicate of the East and the Malankara Metropolitan had
jurisdiction over the Malankara Church. The Holy Synod was the
highest authoritative body, deliberating on faith matters and
administrative issues. If all had gone well, the spiritual supremacy
of the Patriarch could have been more explicitly demonstrated in
Malankara, but that was not to be with the factional feud raising
its ugly head, and the Spiritual lordship of the Patriarch remained
mostly only on paper.
If we spend time on the various internet sites, there are lots of
reasons to be confused and disillusioned, yet I find solace that
this is the faith that was adhered to by such saintly leaders as
Pampady Thirumeni, and such scholars as Paulose Mar Gregorios
Thirumeni and V.C. Samuel Achen. Also such great jewels as
Geevarghese Mar Osthathios Thirumeni do not find reason to change
this faith, surely they could not have been all wrong!
-------------------
A side note to Mr. Robin Mani from Philadelphia:
Robin,
If your quest is sincere, and your queries to Mar Philexinos and the
others on this forum are out of your genuine thirst to know the truth
(I hope it is), I would suggest that you get in touch with
Makarios Thirumeni with these questions, especially since you are in
the US. So many of the youth in our church of your age have been
blessed by the knowledge of Makarios Thirumeni in these matters.
Thirumeni is a renowned historian of the church and an expert on the
Sabha case.
Hope this helps.
----------------------------------
Regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/12513
so much so that we get lost and do not know the truth from deception.
I wanted a basic outline of some of the complexities of our church
history and hence I have prepared the small(?:)) note below. Presenting
it before you for correction. I know there are several resources we
can refer to for further details, but I wanted a 1-2 page summary so
that I can be clear in my mind and can explain it to anyone in my
circle. Please go through this and correct me. Also hoping that this
outline may help others like me out there.
-------------------------------------
St.Thomas the apostle preached Christ in India. He converted 4
Namboothiri Brahman families from Kerala to Christianity.
Also he established 7 Churches in India. This would mean that
St.Thomas ordained priests and High Priests to shepherd the churches.
The following link may be useful.
http://www.stthoma.com/7church_overview.html
We do not know much about the existence of the church in India after
that till the coming of the Portuguese to India in the 16th Century.
We do know of activities in the church in Persia and elsewhere to
which there are reasons to believe we had ties with.
But surely the church in India existed and was doing ok. There is no
reason to doubt that the church continued her ministry (in however
small form) in the lineage of St.Thomas.
See the Catholicate lineage at:
http://www.icon.org.in/icon_lineage.icon
In 1599 we have the Synod of Dyampar which is well documented. Then
we have the Oath of Coonen Cross in 1653.From 1653 we had Malankara
Metropolitans. Mar Gregorios who was Metropolitan of the Syrian
Church for Jerusalem, came to India in 1653 to ordain Marthoma I and
Marthoma II (Malankara Metropolitans). This was done to help the
church in India, since we required help after the Roman Catholics
destroyed everything when we were under them. This was the begining
of a close alliance between the Syrian church of St.Peter and the
Indian Church of St. Thomas. What we did not realise at that time is
that the church trying to get out of the yoke of the R.C. Church
was falling under the influence of the Syrian church, which atleast
several centuries later some Patriarchs would try to take advantage
of, resulting in a feud that will turn brothers against brothers.
Baselios Mar Yeldho (Maphrian) came to India in 1655 when HG was 90
yrs old to strengthen the church.
http://www.syriacchristianity.org/bio/MorBaseliosYeldho.htm
(Note that the above link reflects a Jacobite view point and hence
the version of the history of the church is not in agreement with
the Indian Orthodox view point. Please use it only to get info
about St. Baselios Yeldho. It is sad that we do not have much
independent sources showing the history of this saint of our church,
a sad reflection of the mind games that has resulted from this
century old feud, hope some initiative will be made in this area to
correct this).
Till 1912 we had Malankara Metropolitans.All this while, the understanding was
that we are St.Thomas Christians, and that the
Patriarch was helping sustain this church originally established by
St.Thomas. (The see of St.Thomas or the Throne of St.Thomas, the
Patriarch was merely helping us sustain this see)We respected the
Patriarch and the Syrian leaders for their help in nurturing of the
faith, so we considered the Patriarch as the spiritual head.
Also the reliance on the Syrian church increased when we were
undergoing stress due to the formation of the Marthoma Church. The
Salmoosa of Parumala Thirumeni owing allegiance to the Patriarch
should be seen in the context of the schism in the church due to the
reformist ideas which resulted in the Marthoma church. Surely
Parumala Thirumeni also would have been aware though of the growing
tension in Malankara against the Patriarch. It was however Divine
Will that this saint would pass away in 1902.
We cherished our independence and freedom, we never wanted to
come under the yoke of the Syrian Patriarch in administrative
matters. Whenever the Patriarch tried to cross the line and put
pressure on administrative issues, there were problems. Also there
came a realization that it was impossible to look to Damascus for
all spiritual needs including consecration of Holy Mooron especially
since the Indian Church was begining to flourish in India. The
Indian Church established her own Seminary. There began to be
conflict of interests between the Syrian Patriarchs and the Indian
fathers, a factor to this was the weakening of the influence of the
Patriarchate the world over leaving India as the "greenest pasture"
for the Patriarchate.The problems with the Patriarch and the Indian
Church reached a boiling point in 1912.
In 1912 the Catholicate was established in Kerala by the then Senior
Syrian Patriarch HH Abdeh Messiah. This catholicate was established
in the lineage of St.Thomas (Apostolic see of St. Thomas, Apostolic
Throne of St. Thomas) as the Catholicate in Mosul\Tigris was when it
was established in 559 A.D. by Yakub Burdana.(The Catholicate
established in Tigris in 559 A.D. by Yakub Burdana was reduced to a
Maphrianate in 628 A.D. by the Syrian Church, the office of the
Maphrians continued till 1860 -- well after the rule of the
Malankara Metropolitans started in India in 1653. So the
establishment of the Catholicate in 1912 in Kerala was not a
transfer of the Maphrianate from Tigris under the Syrian Patriarch
but a Catholicate in all its glory, as it was when Yakub Burdana
established it in 559 AD in Mosul/Tigris. Yet since we were indebted
to the Syrian church for their timely help and due to closer
associations after 1653, the Indian Church acknowledged the
Patriarch as the Spiritual head.)Soon afterwards, the office of
Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicose of the East were merged. The
Catholicate of the East and the Malankara Metropolitan had
jurisdiction over the Malankara Church. The Holy Synod was the
highest authoritative body, deliberating on faith matters and
administrative issues. If all had gone well, the spiritual supremacy
of the Patriarch could have been more explicitly demonstrated in
Malankara, but that was not to be with the factional feud raising
its ugly head, and the Spiritual lordship of the Patriarch remained
mostly only on paper.
If we spend time on the various internet sites, there are lots of
reasons to be confused and disillusioned, yet I find solace that
this is the faith that was adhered to by such saintly leaders as
Pampady Thirumeni, and such scholars as Paulose Mar Gregorios
Thirumeni and V.C. Samuel Achen. Also such great jewels as
Geevarghese Mar Osthathios Thirumeni do not find reason to change
this faith, surely they could not have been all wrong!
-------------------
A side note to Mr. Robin Mani from Philadelphia:
Robin,
If your quest is sincere, and your queries to Mar Philexinos and the
others on this forum are out of your genuine thirst to know the truth
(I hope it is), I would suggest that you get in touch with
Makarios Thirumeni with these questions, especially since you are in
the US. So many of the youth in our church of your age have been
blessed by the knowledge of Makarios Thirumeni in these matters.
Thirumeni is a renowned historian of the church and an expert on the
Sabha case.
Hope this helps.
----------------------------------
Regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/12513
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