Indian Orthodox Church Guides, Tutorials

The head of the Indian Orthodox church is the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan H.H. Mar Baselius Mar Thoma Mathews II whose seat is at Kottayam, Kerala, India. The Church has dioceses and churches in most parts of India as well as in the US, Canada, United Kingdom, Western Europe, Persian Gulf nations, Australia and New Zealand. The official title of the head of the Church is "the Catholicos of the East, Catholicos of the Apostolic throne of St. Thomas and the Malankara Metropolitan". Another section of the Indian Church ( Jacobite Syrian Church) functions under the spiritual leadership of the Patriarch of Antioch.

The Church, though modern in its vision and outlook, keeps the traditional Orthodox faith and liturgy. It accepts the first three Ecumenical Synods. The liturgy now in use is the translation of the SyriaThe Syrian Arab Republic is a country in Southwest Asia, bordering (from south to north) on Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey. The border with Israel is subject to dispute, pending the resolution of outstanding conflicts over possession of the Golan liturgy adopted from the Antiochian Church in the 17th century16th century 17th century 18th century more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601- 1700. During this period, the power of England and the United Provinces increased; while that of. Today the Church uses liturgy in Malayalam, HindiHindi Hindi Spoken India Region South Asia Total speakers 480 million Ranking2 Genetic classification Indo-European Indo-Iranian Indo-Aryan Middle Indo-Aryan Hindi Official status Official language India Regulated by- Language codes ISO 639-1hi ISO 639-2h and EnglishThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil.

The Indian Orthodox community inherited many aspects of Indian civilization and they are as any other member of any other community in India, in their customs, manners and life style.

The Church has a Theological Seminary at Kottayam, Kerala, which was established in 1815Events January 3 Austria, Britain, and France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Prussia and Russia. January 8 War of 1812: Battle of New Orleans February 3 The first commercial cheese factory is founded in Switzerland February 6 New Jersey g. Another seminary is situated in NagpurNgpur (meaning City of the Snakes is a city located near the geographical center of India, in the state of Maharashtra. Nagpur has a metropolitan population of 2. 4 million ( 1998 est. roughly half of them speak Marathi. It is known throughout the country, MaharashtraDate of formation May 1, 1960 Capital Mumbai Auxiliary Capital Nagpur Largest City Mumbai Governor Mohammad Fazal Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil Area 308,000 km² Population Total Density Ranked 2nd in India 96,752,247 ( 2. The later was established fairly recently in the later part of the 20th century.

The Church takes an active role in various ecumenical activities at national and international levels. It is a member of the World Council of Churches. Famous theologians such as Mar Paulose Gregorious, Mar Geevarghese Osthathios, and Rev. Fr.V.C. Samuel, who contributed to the negotiations between the Oriental and Byzantine churches, belong to this church. The Indian Orthodox Church also participated in the Ecumenical council of Oriental Orthodox Churches held in Addis Ababa, in 1965.

1 History

During the later Old Testament times the Malabarian coast had trade relations with West Asia. These trade routes later enabled Christianity to reach Kerala, a state on the south western coast of India. Tradition states that the Apostle Thomas preached the Gospel to the locals (which included Jewish settlers in Kerala), baptised many, ordained some as bishops and founded seven churches. These churches remain the major Christian centres in Kerala. The christians of this ancient tradition were and are known as either Nasranis or Syrian Christians.

The Indian Church was related to the Church of the East in the early centuries, and this church sent "East Syrian" bishops to India. The head of the Eastern church was the "Catholicos of the East" in the lineage of Apostle Thomas. In 431 AD, the Council of Ephesus condemned the teachings of Nestor, who was the Patriarch of Constantinople. A section of the Church of the East rejected the decisions of the Council fo Ephesus and accepted the Nestorian teaching. In 544 AD, Mar Theodosius, the Patriarch of Alexandria ordained Mar Jacob Baradaeus as a general bishop. In 559 AD, Mar Jacob Baradaeus visited the east and consecrated a Catholicos for the non-Chalcedonians who accepted the Council of Ephesus and rejected the Council of Chalcedon.

The Portuguese who colonized India in 1498 tried to convert the St. Thomas Christians to Roman Catholicism. By 1599 they succeeded in forcibly converting some to the Roman Catholic Church. But in 1653, a section of St. Thomas Christians revolted and resolved against accepting foreign authority. The party that sought to preserve the Church's freedom appealed to several Eastern Christian Centres for help in restoring its episcopal succession. The Antiochene Church responded and sent to India a Bishop, Metropolitan Mar Gregorios of Jerusalem who came to India in 1665. The Archdeacon who had been declared in the meantime to be Metropolitan Mar Thoma by the laying on of hands by twelve Presbyters was now confirmed by him in his episcopal rank, and both of them worked together to organise the church on firm footing. Mar Thoma I was followed in succession by a series of Prelates with the same name till 1816 when the last of them namely Mar Thoma IX came to the scene, but was soon replaced by Mar Dionysius II.

Later in the 19th century, exposure to the doctrines of the Anglican Church inspired a reform movement led by Abraham Malpan . This was largely unsuccessful and ended in schism with the reformers founding the Mar Thoma Church.

In 1912, the Catholicate of the East was revived in India with the co-operation of Mar Abded Messih, the Senior Patriarch of Antioch, Mar Dionysius VI, the Metropolitan of the Indian Church and the Bishops of the Church. The ceremony was held at St. Mary's Church, Niranam on 15 September 1912; Niranam Church is one of the seven Churches founded by Apostle Thomas.

Despite several schisms, the Indian Orthodox Church remains a stronghold of Oriental Orthodoxy in The Subcontinent.

2 External links

Oriental Orthodox churches

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