The Church
The Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also popularly known as the INDIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH is a prominent member of the family of Oriental Orthodox Churches. It traces its origins to the arrival of St. Thomas the Apostle, who came to India in AD 52. The autocephalous Indian Orthodox Church is headed by the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Mathews III and follows the ancient West Syrian Liturgical Rite.
The official name of the Church - Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church - can be explained as:
The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381) and Ephesus (A.D. 431). The Indian Orthodox Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches namely, Antiochene, Coptic, Armenian, Eritrean and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches and maintains cordial ecumenical relationships with the Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches.
Although a majority of the members of the Indian Orthodox Church today reside in the state of Kerala in South-West India, there are parishes spread across various parts of the globe. It is due to this international presence that the Church is presently popularly known as the Indian Orthodox Church. For administrative efficiency, the Church is divided into 30 ecclesial units called dioceses, each of which are administratively and spiritually headed by a respective Diocesan Bishop. The Council of bishops, known as the Holy Synod is headed by the Holy Catholicos, who is the supreme spiritual head of the Church.
The Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Church
The church had no written constitution until 1934, but was governed by consensus, traditions and precedence. It was the vision of Mor Dionysius, Vattasseril to have a clearly defined uniform constitution to govern the church administration. He initiated action in this regard and appointed a sub-committee with O. M. Cherian as convener to submit a draft constitution. The committee members had discussed the fundamental issues with the Metropolitan in several rounds. However it was not finalized and passed (materialized) in his life time.
After his demise, the constitution was presented in the Malankara Christian Association meeting of Dec 26, 1934, held at M. D. Seminary. It was adopted and brought to force. Three times the constitution was amended to meet specific situations and needs. It only shows that the church is alive to meet the challenges that arise from time to time. The validity of the constitution was challenged by the Patriarch party in the Court, but the Supreme Court has given its final verdict declaring the validity of the Constitution. Every member of the Church is bound by the rules and regulations laid down in the Constitution. The Constitution upholds the autonomy and autocephaly of the Malankara Orthodox Church. It is Episcopal in its (polity) and not congregational. At the same time it upholds democratic principle by safeguarding the rights and privileges of the lay people. It was framed at a time when the Patriarch of Antioch was held in high esteem and hence his limited role is included. The constitution enshrines the fundamental features of the Church, provides direction for its internal administration and preserves its integrity and autonomy. The essential features of the Church are provided in the preamble. The first article emphasizes the bond of relationship between the Church of Syria and Malankara. The second article deals with the foundation of the Malankara Church by St. Thomas and the primacy of the Catholicos. The third article refers to the name of the church and the fourth about the faith, traditions etc., and the fifth about the canons governing the administration of the Church. The whole constitution conceives the Malankara Church as self –sufficient in all her requirements, be it temporal, ecclesiastical or spiritual in nature and upholds that the Malankara Orthodox church is rightly autocephalous in character.
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