What is the relation between the Syriac Orthodox Church in Antioch and the Syriac Orthodox Church in India?
The Church in Malankara (Kerala, India) is an integral part of the Syriac Orthodox Church. Apostle Thomas is believed to have set out from Edessa, the cradle of Syriac Christianity, to India to preach the Gospel in India. He is believed to have arrived in India in AD 52 and was martyred at Mylapore in Chennai (formerly Madras) in AD 72. Christianity in India since its earliest days adhered exclusively to the Syriac tradition until the Portugese introduced the Latin tradition in the 16th century. The spiritual head of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church is the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. However, the Church enjoys a considerable degree of autonomy, particularly in its temporal affairs. Its local head is the Catholicos of the East, a position that is currently vacant.
