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{{oriental}}
{{orientalchurches}}
The '''Indian Orthodox Church''' (also known as the '''Malankara Orthodox Church''', '''Orthodox Church of the East''', '''Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church''' (MOSC), '''Orthodox Syrian Church of the East'''), is among the newest members of the [[Oriental Orthodoxy|Oriental Orthodox]] Church family. The Church was formed in 1912 after a schism in the Malankara Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church.
[[Image:CatholicosDidimos.jpg|thumb|left|His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I, current [[Catholicos]] of the East (2005- )]]
==Origins==
It can only be a gift of Grace that the faith and tradition of the small community of the Early Christians in India have remained alive and vibrant through nearly two thousand years. Even amidst periodic storm, from one source or another, across these centuries of change, the community has maintained an inner calm, in the safety of the spiritual anchor, cast in the original concept of the word Orthodox, that is the "right glorification of God".
The fact that the Christian Church, first appeared in India, as elsewhere, as a fellowship of self-governing communities to the same body and born into the same new life, may yet light the path to a future of peace, within and beyond the Orthodox Community.
==List of Catholicos of the East (Indian Orthodox Church)==
'''Catholicos of the East'''
*1912-1914 [[w:Baselios Paulose I|Baselios Paulose I]]
*1914-1924 ''VACANT''
*1925-1928 [[w:Baselios Geevarghese I|Baselios Geevarghese I]]
'''Catholicos of the East & Malankara Metropolitan''' ''(from 1934 onwards, both offices united in one person)''
*1929-1964 [[w:Baselios Geevarghese II|Baselios Geevarghese II]]
*1964-1975 [[w:Baselios Augen I|Baselios Augen I]]
*1975-1991 [[w:Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I|Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I]]
*1991-2005 [[w:Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II|Baselios Marthoma Mathews II]]
*2005-Present [[Baselios Didymos I|Baselios Marthoma Didymos I]]
==St Thomas Christian Groups==
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" align="center" width="60%"
|+'''St. Thomas Christian Groups'''
|- style="border: solid 1px"
! colspan="2" style="background:#efefef;" | East Syriac (Chaldean)
! colspan="5" style="background:#ffdead;" | West Syriac (Antiochian)
|-
! colspan="1"| '''[[Assyrian Church of the East|Assyrian Church]]'''
! colspan="2"| '''[[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic Communion]]'''
| '''Independent (Reformed)'''
| '''Independent'''
! colspan="2"| '''[[Oriental Orthodox|Oriental Orthodox Communion]]'''
|-
| [[w:Chaldean Syrian Church|Chaldean Syrian Church]]<br>(1814) || [[w:Syro-Malabar Catholic Church|Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]]<br>(1665) || [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]]<br>(1930) || [[w:Mar Thoma Church|Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church]]<br>(Mar Thoma Church)<br>(1876) || [[w:Malabar Independent Syrian Church|Malabar Independent Syrian Church]] (Thozhiyoor Church)<br>(1771) || [[Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church]] ('''Indian Orthodox Church''') || [[w:Jacobite Syrian Christian Church|Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church]] (Syriac Orthodox Church)
|}
[[Image:St Thomas Christians divisions.jpg|centre|A chart describing the divisions within the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala (relationship of the [[w:Syrian Malabar Nasrani|Nasrani]] groups).]]
----
[[Image:Church of India - All Bishops.jpg|Bishops of the Church of India (ca.2002)]]
===Demography===
On a rough reckoning, about 70% to 75% of the Christians in Kerala belong to St. Thomas Christianity, spread across different denominations: the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]], the [[Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church|Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church]], the '''Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church''' (Church of India), the Marthoma Syrian Church, the Chaldean Syrian Church and the Malabar Independent Syrian Church.
<caption>'''St.Thomas Christian Churches'''</caption>
{| border="1"
!Church Name||Population||
|-
|Syro-Malabar Church<ref>http://www.smcim.org//about.htm</ref>||3,674,115
|-
|'''Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Syrian Church''' (Church of India)<ref>[http://malankaraorthodoxchurch.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=213 Malankara Orthodox Church - Malankara Orthodox Church]</ref><ref>http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/india/malankara-orthodox-syrian-church.html</ref>||2,000,000 ‡
|-
|Mar Thoma Church<ref>http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/india/mar-thoma-syrian-church-of-malabar.html</ref>.||1,062,000 ‡
|-
|'''[[Malankara Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church]]'''<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_622.html Adherents.com]</ref>||750,000 ‡
|-
|[[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church|Syro-Malankara Church]]<ref>[http://www.malankaracatholicchurch.net/Statistics.htm Welcome to "The Syro-Malankara Catholic Major Archiepiscopal Church Website"]</ref>||608,725
|-
|St. Thomas Evangelical Church<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_622.html Adherents.com]</ref>||50,000
|-
|Chaldean Syrian Church<ref>NSC Network (2007),[http://nasrani.net/2007/02/13/stthomas-christians-demography/ St. Thomas Christians Demography.]</ref>||20,000
|-
|Malabar Independent Syrian Church<ref>NSC Network (2007),[http://nasrani.net/2007/02/13/stthomas-christians-demography/ St. Thomas Christians Demography.]</ref>||10,000
|-
|}
The data given is world-wide population. The population figures of non Catholic denominations especially, the Jacobite, Orthodox and Mar Thoma Church are not from reliable sources. India's official census data <ref>[http://www.censusindia.gov.in]</ref> places the total Christian population in Kerala at 6.06 million in the year 2001. Accordingly, the population of St Thomas Christians in [[w:Demographics of Kerala|Kerala]] (who form 70%-75% of the total Christian population in the State as suggested above) may be in the region of 4.2 to 4.5 million.
==References==
<div><references/></div>
==Source==
*[[Wikipedia:Saint Thomas Christians]]
*[http://newsfromrussia.com/world/2005/10/31/66637.html New primate for Malankara Church (31 October 2005)]
*[http://orthodoxherald.com/ Online Indian Orthodox Herald English Edition Biweekly]*[http://orthodoxherald.net/ Online Indian Orthodox Herald Malayalam Edition]
[[Category:Oriental Orthodox|India]]
[[fr:Église du Malankara]]
[[ro:Biserica Indiei (Siriană Malankara)]]
