Welcome ... The History of Church ( India )
This
Church traces its origin back to the Church established by St. Thomas, the
Apostle in 52 A.D., like several other Syrian Churches. There are eight
denominations, which claim to be descendants of the first Christian
community established in the south west coast of India by St.Thomas. It
was one Christian community receiving bishops from Persia, from the
Patriarchate of the Church of the East with its headquarters in Seleucia
Ctesiphon, Baghdad, etc.
Vasco de Gama came to south India in 1498 AD. In the Synod of
Diamper in June 1599, Archbishop Alexio de Menezes forced the Syrian
Christian community to be under the obedience of the Pope of Rome.
In January 1653 thousands of these Christians in Malabar took
an oath with a rope tied on a bend Cross and liberated themselves from the
Portuguese fold. In 1665 a Metropolitan came from the East. Mar Gregorius
of Jerusalem was his name. The Patriarch of Antioch sent him. The Syrian
Christians received him. They were not aware of the split of the Syrian
Christian community to East Syrian and West Syrian Churches. At that time
no bishops came from the Church in Baghdad. The Patriarchate had been
moved from Baghdad to different places and finally it was in Qudshanis in
Kurdistan.
In 1796 AD. the Shakthan Thampuran, the famous Maharaja of
erstwhile Cochin State (now part of Kerala) brought 52 Christian families to Thrissur with a view to
develop Trichur as a center of trade and commerce. The Mart Mariam Big Church
was constructed in 1814 AD for the worship of those Christian
families.
This Church is under the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian
Church of the East. The present Catholicos Patriarch H.H. Mar Dinkha IV is
residing in Chicago, U.S.A.
His Holiness Mar Dinkha IV was born in Northern Iraq on 15
September 1935. He became bishop in Teheran, Iran on 11 February 1962. He
was consecrated Catholicos Patriarch on 17 October 1976.
There are three archbishops (Lebanon, India and Iraq), and
eight bishops under the Catholicos Patriarch.
This
Church now uses the Gregorian calendar. Patriarch and Pope John Paul II
signed a Common Christo logical Declaration on 11 November 1994 in
Vatican.
The Church in India has 29 parishes, out of which five are outside Kerala such as Coimbatore, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.
The head of the Church is Dr. Mar Aprem Metropolitan
residing in Trichur. This
Church has taken membership in National Council of Churches in India,
Kerala Council of Churches, Churchs Auxiliary for Social Action, Delhi,
Christian Medical College, Vellore etc.
The Church that had a temporary split during (1964-1995) is a
united Church now. According
to the constitution approved by the Patriarch, a Board of nine Central
Trustees is elected for every 3 years. The present chairman of the Board
of Trustees is Inasu Jacob.
Board of Central Trustees (2004 April March 2007)
1. Inasu Jacob
Chairman
2.
John Paul
Vice Chairman
3. M.I
Paul
Member
4. C.P
Jose
5.
Mathew Thomas
6 K.A
John
7 C.D
Johnson
8. N.O
Inasu
9.
Babu Konikkara
Address: Office
of The Board of Central Trustees ,
Chaldean Syrian Church of the East,
High
Road, Trissur - 680 001
Email : chaldean@sancharnet.in
Copyright ©
2003. the Church of the east India.
All Rights Reserved.