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The Synod of Diamper |
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In the 16 th century the Portuguese encountered the Law of Thomas. In the beginning the encounter was cordial but it developed into confrontation because missionaries in general failed to accept a Christian life different from theirs. Hence they launched a policy of making the St. Thomas Christians conform to the western pattern of Christian life. They attempted to execute this policy through the decrees of the Udayamperoor (Diamper) synod of 1599.
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The Portuguese convened the controversial Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor Soonahdos) in 1599. It has been repeatedly established by historians that the manner in which the synod was convened and its decrees passed were a naked abuse of power by Archbishop Menezes of Goa and his colleagues and in violation of all the ecclesiastical laws that existed then. With the synod the long-standing relations of the Church of India with the East Syrian church of Persia were terminated and the St. Thomas Christian were forcibly brought under the Latin Jurisdiction and of the Portuguese Padroado. Thus the Church of St. Thomas Christians became a ‘ Colony Church’ of the Portuguese, and a period of massive Latinization of the Liturgy and the ecclesial life of the St. Thomas Christians began.
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The Coonan Cross Oath |
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Naturally the St. Thomas Christians protested against the Latin rule. Their protest culminated in what is known as the Coonan Cross Oath (Bent Cross Oath) of 1653. A group of priest and lay people led by the Archdeacon Thomas Parampil swore on the Bible kept on the high altar in the church of Our Lady of Life at Mattanchery near Cochin and took an oath that they would not be subject to the Portuguese Archbishop of Goa, Francis Gracia. The crowd outside shared in the oath by holding on to a rope tied to a cross in the churchyard. It is said that the cross bent as a result. Hence the oath is known as Coonan (bent) Cross Oath. The site of the oath is visited today by many tourists. A cross stands at the site as a symbol of a sensational mass demonstration of protest by the native Christians against the Latin rule. |
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This revolt eventually split the St. Thomas Christians first into two groups. While one group continued to recognize the prelates appointed by Rome , the other broke away from Rome and entered into communion with the West-Syrian Church of Antioch. This group has assumed various names in the course of history: Jacobites, Puthenkoortukar (the new set) and the Syrian Orthodox Church of India. In the 19 th century the Marthomites separated from the Jacobites on account of Anglican influence. The Jacobites were further divided into two groups: the MetranKakshi (The bishop’s Party) calling itself the Syrian Orthodox Church of India, whose Catholicos or supreme head resides at Devalokam, Kottayam, and the Bava Kakshi (the Patriarch’s party) calling itself the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church of India which acknowledges the Antiochean Jacobite Patriarch as its head. |
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