Catholicos of the East (Indian Orthodox Church)

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan are the titles used by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church which is also called the Indian Orthodox Church or IOC , for the same bishop holding two offices of Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.[1] The term "Catholicos" is derived from the Greek word Katholikos (Καθολικός), meaning "Universal Bishop". HH Baselios Marthoma Mathews III is the present Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.

For other uses, see Catholicos of the East (disambiguation).

History

Founding
Main article: Maphrianate of the East

Christianity has had a presence in India since its inception in the early centuries. Church tradition holds that St. Thomas the Apostle initially brought Christianity to India in AD 52 and was martyred in Mylapore, now in the modern state of Tamil Nadu. Pantaenus, the leader of the Alexander Theological school, visited India and found an active Christian Community there in 190 A.D.

In 544, Theodosius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, ordained Bishop Mar Jacob Baradaeus for the expansion of a Syriac Church weakened by Byzantine persecution subsequent to the Council of Chalcedon. In 559, Mar Jacob visited the east and consecrated a Catholicos for Orthodox Christians who accepted the Council of Ephesus and rejected the Council of Chalcedon. Mar Jacob himself was ordained a general bishop by Patriarch Theodosius of Alexandria.

Catholicos/Maphrian

For Maphrian, see Maphrian.

The word is a transliteration of the Greek καθολικός, pl. καθολικοί, meaning concerning the whole, universal or general. It was a title that existed in the Roman Empire where Government representative who was in charge of a large area was called ‘Catholicos’. The Churches later started to use this term for their Chief Bishops.

‘Maphriyono’ (Maphrian) is derived from the Syriac word 'afri', "to make fruitful", or "one who gives fecundity". This title be used exclusively for the head of the Syriac Orthodox Church in the East. From the mid 13th century onwards, a few occupants of the Maphrianate were referred also as ‘Catholicos’, but the title never came into extensive usage.

In the 20th century when this office of the Maphrianate under the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch was re-established in India, the chief of the local church assumed the title ‘Catholicos of the East’, but his jurisdiction was restricted to India in the East. Later in the 21st century (in 2002) the Maphrianate was renamed to 'Maphrianate of India' and the Maphriano Assumed the title 'Catholicose/Maphriano of India' as per constitution of the church in India, officially known as "Catholicos of the East" as the Syrian Orthodox Constitution.


References
  1. "The Catholicate of the Malankara orthodox Syrian Church".
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