Church History – St George Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, Frankfurt Germany

Syriac Orthodox Church

The followers of Jesus Christ came to be known as Christians at Antioch. Jesus Christ conferred the authority to rear and administers the Holy church on St. Peter and he founded the Throne of Antioch and built churches there. The location of the throne established by St. Peter in Antioch AD 37 continued there till AD 518. Due to the efforts of St. Peter and his fellow workers, the Christians rose in number. In AD 60, he appointed Evodios and Ignatius as his successors. Hence the Throne of Antioch was founded with the apostolic succession of St. Peter. It was at Antioch, the followers of Christ got the name Christians. During the period of persecutions, the location of the throne was shifted to different monasteries in Mesopotamia to Mardeen in the 12th century and to Homs in 1932. Since 1939, the seat of the Holy See is in Damascus in Syria. At present H.H. Ignatius Aphrem II rears and administers the Syrian Christians all over the world, as the head of the Holy See.

Christianity in India

As our Lord Jesus commanded to His Apostles, they traveled all over the world and witnessed Jesus Christ. Thus, it is believed that St. Thomas came to India and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ in AD 52 and proclaimed the good news in India. After the missionary journey of St. Thomas, we could found Pantaenus, who came to India in AD. 190’s. He was a Greek Stoic and the principal of the school of Alexandria and he preached Christ and strengthened the Christian Church in India through his visit from Egypt.

In AD 345, bishop Joseph of Edessa, priests, and some Christian families from Syria reached Kodungalloor, the harbor of that time; under the leadership of Thomas of Cana, a businessman and it is known as the first Syrian Migration. The Christians who were present there received them gladly. The arrival of Episcopa and priests gave a new awakening to our ancestors, who were remaining without spiritual leadership. Again, a group of Syrians under the leadership of the Syrian trader Saphor Easow arrived at Kollam in AD 822, and Mor Sabor and Mor Afroth, the two bishops who were with that group kept the Church in true faith, by establishing churches and teaching the faith.

In the Malankara church, there existed only the Jacobite faith up to the 15th century. There had been neither Nestorian faith nor Roman faith. But from AD 1490 to 1597, the Nestorian Catholicose of Babylon (they also call themselves Patriarch) claimed supremacy of priesthood in Malankara and sent bishops continuously to Malankara. In AD 1490, the Syrians of Kollam requested the Holy See of Antioch for ordaining a bishop for them. But the Holy See could not ordain and give a bishop to the church at that time due to different persecutions.

The Portuguese traders came to India at the beginning of the 16th century, tried to bring the Syrian Christian of Malankara under the authority of the Pope. As part of the Latinisation of the Church, Archbishop Alex De Meneses convened the Diamper Synod in AD 1599 and our fathers were forced to sign the shameful decisions by giving up the freedom and true faiths of the church. The Malankara church was completely under the control of the Portuguese for 54 years from 1599 to 1653. By then, Mor Ahathulla Bawa who set out in order to save his church which was suffering under the Roman yoke was arrested at Mylapore. The Bava was imprisoned and later was murdered by drowning in the sea. By knowing this, Jacobite Syrians from the various parts of Malankara under the leadership of Archdeacon Thoma and Anjilimoottil Itty Thomman Kathanar, gathered at Mattancherry, tied a rope on a cross made of stone, which was there and holding on that rope took an oath that thereafter they will never accept the Roman church and Jesuit Bishop. This event is known as the Oath of Coonan cross, as the cross got bend during the incident.

Meanwhile, the Dutch East India Company overpowered the Portuguese and gained dominance over the spice trade in Malabar in 1663. With their help, in 1665, St. Gregorios Abdul Jaleel, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was under the supremacy of the Patriarch of Antioch, reached Malankara in obedience to the instructions of Patriarch of Antioch, H.H. Abdul Massih I. He ordained Archdeacon Thoma as metropolitan in the name of Mor Thoma I. Thus the Holy Father reestablished the priesthood, which was lost to the Malankara church for the interim period, and also restored the faith in the Church. Thereafter, Yeldo Mor Baselios Maphrian was sent to Malankara with a group to strengthen the Church.

In 1772, one of the delegates from the Holy See consecrated Kattumangat Abraham Ramban as Mor Coorilose and as it was not acceptable by Mor Dionasios I, there started a rift and this led to the formation of Malabar Independent Syriac Church of Thozhiyoor in 1774.

After the establishment of the East India Company, the missionaries from Britain gradually tried to control the Syriac Orthodox Church by introducing their reformed teachings. Even though the Church tried to reject the western teaching and to keep the faith intact, a small group got inspired in their teaching and modified the liturgy to suit the protestant view. Later this led to the formation of Marthoma Syrian Church of Malabar.

In 1875, H.H. Ignatius Peter IV came to India and strengthens the Church by forming an effective administrative system. In 1911, Vattasseril Mor Dionasius VI started to defy the orders of the spiritual supreme, the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Abded’Aloho II and brought to Kerala the dethroned Patriarch Mor Abdul Messih and forcefully established a Catholicate in India, which lead to the further schism in the Church. This new faction of the church became known as Orthodox Syrian Church.

After the split in 1911, Saint Mor Coorilose Paulose became the Malankara Metropolitan and after him, Saint Mor Athanasius Paulose the Great, led the Church. In 1931, H. H. Ignatius Elias III came to India and tried his best to heal the breach in the Church. The negotiations for a long-standing peace continued and atlast in 1958, the two factions united together but were not fruitful. In 1985, H.B. Baselios Paulose II became the legitimate Catholicose of the Church and the Church continued till now under the Holy See of Antioch in the graceful leadership of H. B. Baselios Thomas I Catholicose of India.