Syro Malankara Catholic Church

Why You Need To Know It is the gift of God that you know the TRUTH about Jesus Christ How did it come to YOU? Don’t take it for granted. Many people DIED and STRUGGLED for you to know the TRUTH of Jesus Christ our Lord. WE ARE THE CHRISTIANS OF ST. THOMAS Learn from the history of the church NO MATTER WHAT, you are responsible to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ amongst your church goers and leaders The Holy Spirit guides the WHEAT of the church

Why You Need To Know There are splits from the Malankara church You should understand what our ancestors stood for

Synod of Udayamperoor(Diamper) Was held to give Portugese and Western rule to the Malankara Church Separate the Christians of St. Thomas from the Chaldean Patriarch to the Latin Archbishop of Goa Remove Syriac traditions from Malankara and replace with Latin Held in 1599 About 100 years after Columbus discovered the Americas

The Players Malankara Mar Abraham – Bishop of Malankara Archdeacon Geevarghese – intended sucessor of Mar Abraham Europeans Bishop Menezis – Archbishop of Goa Francis Roz – The First Latin Bishop of Malankara Nazranies

Lack of Bishop Led to Vulnerability Mar Abraham wanted to ordain a new Bishop as his successor before he died Was prevented by intervention of Portugese Mar Abraham appointed Archdeacon Geevarghese as the defacto ruler of the Church (he was NOT a Bishop) The representatives of the faithful followers met and decided to protect the Syrian tradition and accept Syrian Bishops They were opposed to the Portugese

Bishop Menezis’ Move Menezis saw no Bishop was yet appointed and came to Kochi He wanted to accomplish the following: Protect the churches Bring Malankara under the influence of the Latin Church To force the acceptance of European bishops To remove Syriac traditions and replace with Latin To destroy the old liturgical books He thought they had FALSE DOCTRINES Bring the Malankara Bishop under the Goan Hierarchy

Bishop Menezis’ Influence Overpowers Menezis won the influence of local leaders and kings This forced Archdeacon Geevarghese to accept the instructions of Menezis. He visited the churches of Malankara He administered sacraments Ordained new priests

What is a Synod? Definition: A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. churchChristian

Menezis Calls for a Synod Who attends? Archdeacon Geevarghese Vicars and Deacons of all the Malankara churches Four representatives of each parish In Total 153 priests and 660 lay representatives participated

Synod Proceedings Church of Udayamperoor on 20 th June Seven days in time duration

Synod Proceedings Bishop Menezis got what he desired: Matters of faith and sacraments The church was divided into 75 parishes and new Vicars were appointed. The custom of appointing vicars was FORMALLY INTRODUCED into Malankara.

Only one problem for Menezis… This Synod was NOT approved by Rome. Proper procedure and form was not taken. This synod DIVERTED the path of the Malankara church, and had far reaching effects for the church of Kerala.

The Transformations of the Malankara Church Westernization of the Malankara church by the Portugese Portugese did not understand the Syrian tradition Latin Bishops instead of Syrian Bishops The new leaders did not know about the Syrian traditions of Malankara Francis Roz – First Latin Bishop presiding over Malankara

The Transformations of the Malankara Church Vicar General instead of the Archdeacon Managed the temporalities of the Church was appointed as in the Latin Church Priestly celibacy was made mandatory Liturgical changes New Ecclesiastical Calendar Giving importance to the feasts of Saints Confirmation and Eucharist stopped Malankara allowed after baptism even for an infant Latin allows when men have reached age of reason

Understanding the Intentions of the Portugese They had good intentions Unfortunate misunderstandings and misconceptions about Malankara church traditions Hatred against Portugese missionaries increased

Aftermath Catholic Encyclopedia Malankara Rite is the ONLY rite which was forcefully Romanized Due to the zeal of Menezis Forever changed the Malankara Rite

To Be Continued… The Slanting of the Cross Oath