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 are 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 Catholicos of East as its spiritual head, who also hold 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 7th Catholicos after the See of St.Thomas got shifted to India in 1912. The church have got a long history which begins from AD 52 when St.Thomas preached Christianity in India.
Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church[]
A rivlary between the Catholicos of East and Patriarch of Antioch, split the church of India into 2 sets. Jacobite Orthodox Syrian Church is a semi-autonomous church under the Syriac Orthodox Church. This church recognises 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 fraction that got 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[]
- Orthodox Metropolis of Singapore (Church of Constantinople)
- Church of Russia
- 1 parish in New Delhi (St. Thomas, 2006)
- Church of Armenia (Diocese of India, communities in Calcutta, Chennai-Madras and Mumbai-Bombay)