Orthodoxy in India
This article seeks to be a clearinghouse of information and links regarding the history and state of Orthodox Christianity in India.
Orthodox Church is the oldest of all christian communities in India. The church directly connects with Apostle Thomas and his evangalization in India.
The following is the list of Churches that follow Orthodoxy in India:
- Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Oriental Orthodox Church)
- Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church (autonomous part of Syriac Orthodox Church)
- Malabar Independent Syrian Church (not in full communion with Oriental Orthodox Church)
- Archdiocese of Knanaya (part of Syriac Orthodox Church)
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (also called Indian Orthodox Church) is an autonomous church in the Oriental Orthodox Communion. This church recognises the Catholicos of East as its spiritual head, who also holds the title "Malankara Metropolitan" as administrative head. The current head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is His Holiness Catholicos Baselius Mar Thoma Didymos 1st. He is the 113th Catholicos seated in the Holy See of Saint Thomas and the seventh Catholicos after the See of St. Thomas was moved to India in 1912. The church has a long history which began from AD 52 when St. Thomas preached Christianity in India.
Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church
A rivalry between the Catholicos of East and Patriarch of Antioch split the church of India into two parts. Jacobite Orthodox Syrian Church is a semi-autonomous church under the Syriac Orthodox Church. This church recognises the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch His Holiness Igantius Zakka 1st as its Supreme head and a titular Catholicos as their regional head.
Malabar Independent Syrian Church
Malabar Independent Syrian Church is a faction that split from the main Orthodox Christian body in 1772. The current head of the this Church is Metropolitan Cyril Baselius. This church is not in full communion with other Orthodox Churches.
Archdiocese of Knanaya
Knanaya Archbishop, appointed by the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch, rules the Knanaya Archdiocese of this semi-autonomous part of the Syriac Orthodox church.
See also
- 1 parish in New Delhi (St. Thomas, 2006)
- Church of Armenia (Diocese of India, communities in Calcutta, Chennai-Madras and Mumbai-Bombay)