The Malankara Orthodox Diocese of Southwest America, sometimes referred to as the Southwest Diocese or DS-WA is a
diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
of the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serve ...
. The diocesan headquarters are located in
Beasley, Texas
Beasley is a city in Fort Bend County, Texas, United States, within the Houston–Sugar Land metropolitan area. The city's population was 641 at the 2010 census, up from 590 at the 2000 census. State Highway Loop 540 goes straight through t ...
a suburban city in Texas 40 miles from downtown
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. The southwest diocese covers several churches in the
U.S. states
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
, and Canada.
History
American diocese
The American diocese was established in 1979 by
Thomas Makarios. In 1991, after the death of Makarios,
Mathews Barnabas was enthroned as metropolitan in 1993. In 2002, Zachariah Nicholovos was appointed as the assistant metropolitan.
Formation of the Southwest Diocese
The Diocese was formed by order number 145/2009 signed by the
Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas and
Malankara Metropolitan
Malankara Metropolitan is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian Church, previously by the Government of Travancore and Cochin in South India. This title was awarded by a proclamation from the King of Travancore and ...
,
Didymus I on 1 April 2009. Barnabas and Nicholovos were appointed to the
Northeast American Diocese and
Alexios Eusebius was appointed the Southwest Diocese.
According to order number 01/2017, Eusebius was transferred to the Diocese of Mavelikkara. Subsequently the Malankara Metropolitan assumed control over the diocese and
Zacharias Aprem was appointed as the assistant metropolitan to the diocese. In October 2022,
Thomas Ivanios was appointed as the permanent Diocesan Metropolitan bringing an end to the temporary administrative set up that lasted for over five years.
Today
As of April 2020, there are 63 churches in the southwest diocese.
Diocesan metropolitan
Assistant metropolitan
References
Further reading
Shehimo: Book of Common Prayer. (n.d.). (n.p.): Liturgical Resource Development.
Konat, J. A. (n.d.). Service Book of the Holy Qurbono: English with Commentary & Malayalam with Transliteration. (n.p.): Malankara Orthodox Church Publications.
Y. M. A., Irenaios, Y. M. (2017). A Study of the Experience of the Unspeakable and Its Manifestations in Selected Mystic Saints and Holy Persons in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. India: SFS Publications.
The Book of Common Prayer of the Syrian Church. (2005). United States: Gorgias Press.
Krikorian, M. K. (2010). Christology of the Oriental Orthodox Churches: Christology in the Tradition of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Austria: Peter Lang.
External links
Diocese of South-West AmericaMalankara Orthodox Syrian Church
{{coord missing, Texas
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church dioceses
Oriental Orthodox dioceses in the United States
Oriental Orthodoxy in Canada
2009 establishments in North America