Conclusion
As we have seen the Syro-Malabar
Church has a vexed history. It
has gone through various
vicissitudes. As an apostolic
Church founded by Apostle
Thomas it sprouted in the
Indian soil and began to grow
as an indigenous Church. Hence
we can speak of a genuine
Indian Church. By the time
Liturgy took fixed forms in
various parts of the Christian
world this Church was in
contact with the East Syrian
Church of Seleucia of Persia,
and accepted the East Syrian
Liturgy. About the period
between the preaching of the
apostle and the acceptance of
the East Syrian Liturgy there
is no clear evidence about
what happened to this
Church.It is probable that
this apostolic Church needed
the help of East Syrian
bishops for episcopal
succession. They gave also a
fixed form of Liturgy. This
became part of our heritage.
During this period in
question the Church took
elements of Indian and
especially local culture into
the Liturgy and social life.
Vestiges of the same are
preserved to this day.
The East Syrian prelates
ruled over St. Thomas
Christians till the end of the
sixteenth century. This was a
period of peace among the two
Churches. But the Persian
Church did not do very much
for the growth of this Church.
Then this Church was
brought under the jurisdiction
of the Portuguese Padroado. It
was a time of trouble for the
St. Thomas Christians. The
Portuguese deserve praise for
all the sacrifices they made
in various fields of Church
life. Several Church buildings
belong to this period. They
have tried to impart a better
knowledge of the doctrines of
the Church. Seminary formation
and certain devotions are
contribution of the Portuguese
missionaries. However the
Portuguese missionaries have
done much damage to St. Thomas
Christians. In their attempt
to oust the East Syrian
prelates and to bring the St.
Thomas Christians under
Padroado, they offended the
feelings of this community,
labeled them as Nestorians,
convoked the Synod Diamper in
1599 in which a lot of things
were manipulated to achieve
the above mentioned goals.
They Latinized the Liturgy and
forced the Thomas Christians
to adopt Western customs.
Above all their activities r
led to the “Coonan Cross Oath
” in 1653 and the subsequent
division among the St. Thomas
Christians into the Syro-Malabar
Catholics and the Orthodox or
Jacobite.
The attempts made by St.
Thomas Catholics for reunion
were also foiled by the
Western missionaries..31 32
However the reunion took place
in 1930 under the initiative
of Mar Ivanios, Archbishop of
Trivandrum. The process of
restoration of the status of
the St. Thomas Christians
started in 1986 when St.
Thomas Catholics were freed
from the Padroado and Latin
jurisdiction. Ever since the
indigenous prelates took over
the rule of this community
there has bee wonderful
progress in every field of
Church life, namely,in faith
formation, fostering vocations
to priesthood and religious
life. The contribution this
Church is rendering in the
fields of education, health
care, other social and
developmental activities etc.
are very remarkable. This
Church has to go a long way to
come to the full expression of
its activities.
The restoration of the
Liturgy has to be completed
with the process of cultural
adaptation which is to be a
continuous process. The
original title of ALL INDIA or
the All India jurisdiction has
to be restored to this Church.
This will give this Church the
opportunity to evangelize
through out India, and to look
into the pastoral care of the
faithful in diaspora. Finally
all the provisions in the
Oriental Canon Law regarding
the Major Archiepiscopal
Church should be granted to
this Church.
The future of the Indian
Church depends on a concerted
effort of the three particular
Churches of India. Latin, Syro-Malabar
and Syro-Malankara. The
faithful of all these Churches
should be made aware of the
realities. There are specific
norms given by the Church for
the pastoral care of the
faithful of different rites in
the same the same territory.
They should be practiced by
the faithful and respected by
the particular Churches.
I hope that this humble
attempt to will help the Syro-Malabar
migrant Catholics to know
their Church and the
traditions handed over by
their ancestors. |
