Syrian Catholics of Malabar
Church fork from the Syro-Malabar Church / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Paḻayakūṟ (Pazhayakoor; English: "Old Allegiance"), also known as Romo-Syrians [1] or Syrian Catholics of Malabar, are the East Syriac denominations of the Saint Thomas Christian Church, which claim ultimate apostolic origin from the Indian mission of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century AD.
Syrian Catholics of Malabar | |
---|---|
Type | Eastern Christian |
Classification | Eastern Catholic |
Theology | Diophysitism |
Polity | Episcopal |
Metropolitan Archbishop | Metropolitan of Kodungallūr |
Region | Kerala, India |
Language | Suriyani Malayalam, Classical Syriac, Malayalam |
Liturgy | East Syriac Rite- Liturgy of Addai and Mari |
Headquarters | Angamaly |
Founder | Thomas the Apostle as per tradition. |
Origin | 52 AD (1st century as per tradition) |
Branched from | St. Thomas Christians |
Separations | Syro-Malabar Church, Chaldean Syrian Church |
The Saint Thomas Christians were in full communion with the Church of the East of Persia from whom they inherited the East Syriac liturgical rite. Through the Schism of 1552, a faction of the Church of the East enters the Catholic Church. Following the 1599 Synod of Diamper, the Latin Church Padroado missionaries took over the Thomas Christian jurisdiction of Angamaly.[2][3][lower-alpha 1] The Paḻayakūṟ descends from the faction that remained within the Catholic fold and held fast to an East Syriac identity after the historic Coonan Cross Oath of 1653, while being part of the community that seceded from the Portuguese Padroado.[6]
The modern descendants of the Paḻayakūṟ are the Syro-Malabar Church and the Chaldean Syrian Church. Among these, the former is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See and the latter is an integral part of the Assyrian Church of the East, one of the traditionalist descendants of the Church of the East.[7]