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Thiruvananthapuram Feb
11 2005: Yesterday the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church was
elevated to the status of Major Archiepiscopal Church and its
Metropolitan Cyril Mar Baselios as the first Major Archbishop
and Sreshta Catholicos.
Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, the Apostolic Nuncio to India,
read out the Papal Bull in this regard at the St Mary's
Cathedral in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thiruvalla Bishop Isaac Mar Clemis, who felicitated the newly
appointed Catholicos, expressed gratitude to Pope John Paul II,
Cardinal Igance Mousa Daoud, Prefect of the Apostolic Nuncio for
elevating the church to an Archiepiscopal church.
Replying to the felicitations, the new Sreshta Catholicos said
that a long cherished dream of the Malankara church was realized
through the elevation.
After the function, the Nuncio and other Bishops visited and
said prayers at the tomb of Mar Ivanios and Mar Gregorios, the
late Metropolitan Archbishops of Thiruvananthapuram and the
predecessors of the new Sreshta Catholicos. |
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In 1930 Mar Ivanios of
Malankara Orthodox Church with a small faction joined Pope of
Rome as a rite. They still use the Malankara Orthodox Church
liturgy and clergy vestments. Russian Orthodox Church is
constantly fighting against the divisive activities of Rome in
recent times and this will be a major setback to Malankara
Orthodox Church as a whole. This may be the first Maphrianite of
Rome with a new title to its Arch Bishop.
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
In 1930, a serious setback happened in the Malankara Orthodox
Church. It started with the betrayal of mother- Church by Mar
Ivanios (Fr.P.T.Geevarghese) of Bethany. While he was a priest
he earned the confidence of St. Dionysius of Vattasseril and was
appointed as the principal of M. D. Seminary High School. As a
Metropolitan, in 1919 he initiated the Holy Order of Imitation
of Christ at Bethany in Ranny Perunadu. By that time he was
seemed to be a promising Metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox
Church. Mar Ivanios secretly transacted correspondence with the
Roman Catholic Church for he was afraid of the Patriarch of
Antioch's divisive actions in Malankara Orthodox Church. His
transactions started with the intention of saving the Church
from Patriarch. But it slipped away and finally he joined with
Rome as a rite under the Popes rule by abandoning the mother
Church. |
