Mar Thoma Church
The Mar Thoma Church (official name: Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church , Malayalam മലങ്കര മാർത്തോമ്മാ സുറിയാനി സഭ Malaṅkara Mārttēām'mā Suṟiyāni Sabha ) emerged when Reformation ideas spread among the Thomas Christians at the time of British colonial rule in India . It is a formerly ancient oriental church with a reformed west Syrian rite in community of faith and communion with the Anglican Church and the Old Catholic churches of the Union of Utrecht . The head of the church is Metropolitan Joseph Mar Thoma . It has approximately 900,000 members in 12 dioceses, mostly in Kerala in southern India.
The church constitution corresponds to that of the Anglican Church. The bishops are elected by a church assembly ( Prathinidhi Mandalam ), in which two-thirds lay people are represented, and are appointed by an episcopal synod under the leadership of the metropolitan. The church assembly is the legislative body, the administration is subordinate to a senate ( Sabha Council ), to which the metropolitan and the vicar general and elected representatives of the church assembly belong ex officio. The Synod of Bishops appoints the priests and can create new dioceses. Resolutions of the church assembly require the consent of the synod in order to be legally binding.
In 1952, the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India , which is even more Protestant , split off from the Mar Thoma Church.
Metropolitans
- 1637–1670: Mar Thoma I.
- 1670–1686: Mar Thoma II.
- 1686-1688: Mar Thoma III.
- 1688-1728: Mar Thoma IV.
- 1728–1765: Mar Thoma V.
- 1765-1808: Mar Thoma VI.
- 1808-1809: Mar Thoma VII.
- 1809-1816: Mar Thoma VIII.
- 1816-1817: Mar Thoma IX.
- 1816–1816: Pulikottil Mar Dionysius
- 1816–1817: Mar Philoxenus II.
- 1817-1825: Punnathra Geevargis Mar Dionysius
- 1825–1852: Cheppattu Philipose Mar Dionysius
- 1852–1877: Mathews Mar Athanasius
- 1877-1893: Thomas Mar Athanasius
- 1893-1910: Titus I. Mar Thoma
- 1910-1943: Titus II. Mar Thoma
- 1943–1947: Abraham Mar Thoma
- 1947-1976: Juhanon Mar Thoma
- 1976-1999: Alexander Mar Thoma
- 1999-2007: Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma
- 2007– : Joseph Mar Thoma
Dioceses
diocese | Seat | bishop | Parishes |
---|---|---|---|
Adoor | India , Adoor | Joseph Mar Barnabas | 123 |
Chengannur-Mavelikara | India , Chengannur | Zacharias Mar Theophilus | 89 |
Chennai-Bangalore | India , Chennai | Isaac Mar Philoxenus | 179 |
Delhi | India , New Delhi | Abraham Mar Paulos | 88 |
Kottayam-Kochi | India , Kottayam | Euyakim Mar Coorilos | 117 |
Kunnamkulam-Malabar | India , Calicut | Isaac Mar Philoxenus | 82 |
Malaysia-Australia-Singapore-New Zealand | Joseph Mar Barnabas | 27 | |
Mumbai | India , Mumbai | Abraham Mar Paulos | 74 |
Niranam-Maramon | India , Thiruvalla | Joseph Mar Thoma | 84 |
North America-Europe | United States , Merrick (New York) | Geevarghese Mar Theodosius | 86 |
Ranni-Nilackel | India , Ranni | Geevarghese Mar Athanasius | 132 |
Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam | India , Trivandrum | Thomas Mar Timotheos | 150 |
Individual evidence
- ^ Union of Utrecht - Communiqué of the International Old Catholic Bishops' Conference (IBK) on the occasion of its 2019 meeting in Lublin / Poland. Retrieved July 3, 2019 .