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Catholicos
A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ), derived from (, "generally") from (, "down") and (, "whole"), meaning "concerning the whole, universal, general"; it originally designated a financial or civil office in the Roman Empire.Wigram, p. 91. The Church of the East, some Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic churches historically use this title;The Motu Proprio ''Cleri Sanctitati'' Canon 335 for example the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Georgian Orthodox Church. In the Church of the East, the title was given to the church's head, the patriarch of the Church of the East; it is still used in two successor churches, the Assyrian Church of the East and the Ancient Church of the East, the heads of which are known as catholicos-patriarchs. In the Armen ...
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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 Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate, Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christians, Saint Thomas Christian (also known as ''Nasrani'') population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century (circa 52 AD).''The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume 5''
by Erwin Fahlbusch. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing – 2008. p. 285. .
It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac Rite, West Syriac liturgical rite. The MOSC descends from the Malankara Church and its affiliation with ...
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Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church () is the Autocephaly, autocephalous national church of Armenia. Part of Oriental Orthodoxy, it is one of the most ancient Christianity, Christian churches. The Armenian Apostolic Church, like the Armenian Catholic Church, belongs to the Armenian Rite. The Kingdom of Armenia (antiquity), Kingdom of Armenia was the first state in history to adopt Christianity as its official religion (under the Armenian Apostolic traditions) during the rule of Tiridates III of Armenia, King Tiridates III, of the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century. According to tradition, the church originated in the missions of Apostles Bartholomew the Apostle, Bartholomew and Jude the Apostle, Thaddeus (Jude) in the 1st century. St. Gregory the Illuminator was the first official primate (bishop), primate of the church. It is sometimes referred to as the Armenian Apostolic Orthodox Church, Armenian Church or Armenian Gregorian Church. The Armenian Ap ...
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Catholicos Of India
The Catholicos of India, also referred to as the Catholicos of the East or the Maphrian is the head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. He is ordained by the Syriac Orthodox Antiochian patriarch and functions within the Syriac Orthodox Church at an ecclesiastical-rank second to him. He presides over the Holy Synod of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. The current Catholicos of India is Baselios Joseph, who was elevated on March 25, 2025. The Catholicate of India claims to be a continuation of the historical Maphrianate of the East which was established in the 7th century, to oversee the affairs of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Persia under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Antioch. It was abolished in 1860 by the Holy Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church, and reestablished in Kerala in 1964 with the title "Catholicos" with jurisdiction over India. The catholicos is seated at Mar Athanasius Cathedral, Puthencruz, Kerala. Catholicos/Maphrian The word is a trans ...
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Catholicos Of The East And Malankara Metropolitan
The leader of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church uses the title Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan. The incumbent 'Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan' is Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. History The leaders of the ''Puthenkoor'' faction (also known as the Malankara Church) of the Saint Thomas Christians were called Malankara Metropolitans since the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. Archdeacon Parampil Thoma, the leader of the Coonan Cross Oath rebellion against the Portuguese Roman Catholic authorities, is known to be the first in this lineage. The protesting Christians met at the church in Alangad to discuss their further steps and declared Thoma as the Malankara Metropolitan. However, this episcopal ordination, which took place in the absence of another bishop, was questioned from the very beginning. Therefore Thoma sought help from other Eastern churches. Only the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch responded favorably to his plea and in the person of A ...
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Jacobite Syrian Christian Church
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, also known as the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India is an autonomous maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch based in Kerala, India and a part of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It is headed by the Catholicos of India, Baselios Joseph I, Mor Baselios Joseph, within the hierarchy of Syriac Orthodox Church. According to tradition, it was founded by Thomas the Apostle, Saint Thomas the Apostle. It is currently the only church in Malankara Church, Malankara that maintains the hierarchy of the Syriac Orthodox Church under the Holy See of Antioch. The church employs the West Syriac Rite's Liturgy of Saint James. Name In the aftermath of the Council of Chalcedon, Emperor Justinian I who supported the Chalcedonians, exiled Patriarch of Antioch, Patriarch Severus of Antioch to Egypt, for refusing to accept the council, and professing ...
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Catholicos Of All Armenians
The Catholicos of All Armenians () is the chief bishop and spiritual leader of Armenia's national church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the worldwide Armenian diaspora. The Armenian Catholicos (plural Catholicoi) is also known as the Armenian Pontiff (Վեհափառ, ''Vehapar'' or Վեհափառ Հայրապետ, ''Vehapar Hayrapet'') and by other titles. According to tradition, the apostles Saint Thaddeus and Saint Bartholomew brought Christianity to Armenia in the first century. Saint Gregory the Illuminator became the first Catholicos of All Armenians following the nation's adoption of Christianity as its state religion in 301 AD. The seat of the Catholicos, and the spiritual and administrative headquarters of the Armenian Church, is the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, located in the city of Vagharshapat. The Armenian Apostolic Church is part of the Oriental Orthodox communion. This communion includes the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Ethiopian Orthodox ...
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Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly known as the Georgian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Georgia, is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with the other churches of Eastern Orthodoxy. It is Georgia (country), Georgia's dominant religious institution, and a majority of Georgian people are members. The Orthodox Church of Georgia is one of the oldest churches in the world. It asserts Apostles in the New Testament, apostolic foundation, and that its historical roots can be traced to the early and late Christianization of Iberia and Colchis by Andrew the Apostle in the 1st century AD and by Saint Nino in the 4th century AD, respectively. As in similar autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, the chu ...
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Church Of The East
The Church of the East ( ) or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church, the Chaldean Church or the Nestorian Church, is one of three major branches of Eastern Christianity, Eastern Nicene Christianity that arose from the Christological controversies in the Christianity in the 5th century, 5th century and the Christianity in the 6th century, 6th century, alongside that of Miaphysitism (which came to be known as the Oriental Orthodox Churches) and Chalcedonian Christianity (from which Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism would arise). Having its origins in Mesopotamia during the time of the Parthian Empire, the Church of the East developed its own unique form of Christian theology and East Syriac Rite, liturgy. During the early modern period, a series of Schism#Christianity, schisms gave rise to rival patriarchates, sometimes two, sometimes three. In the latter half of the 20 ...
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Patriarch Of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certain cases also ''popes'' – such as the pope of Rome or pope of Alexandria). The word is derived from Greek πατριάρχης (''patriarchēs''), meaning "chief or father of a family", a compound of πατριά (''patria''), meaning "family", and ἄρχειν (''archein''), meaning "to rule". Originally, a ''patriarch'' was a man who exercised authority as a pater familias over an extended family. The system of such rule of families by senior males is termed patriarchy. Historically, a patriarch has often been the logical choice to act as ethnarch of the community identified with his religious confession within a state or empire of a different creed (such as Christians within the Ottoman Empire). The term developed an ecclesias ...
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Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church (), also informally known as the Jacobite Church, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, denomination that originates from the Church of Antioch. The church currently has around 4-5 million followers. The church upholds the Miaphysitism, Miaphysite doctrine in Christology and employs the Liturgy of Saint James, associated with James, brother of Jesus, James the Just. Classical Syriac is the official and liturgical language of the church. The supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church is the patriarch of Antioch, a bishop who, according to sacred tradition, continues the leadership passed down from Saint Peter. Since 2014, Ignatius Aphrem II has served as the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Syriac Orthodox Antiochian patriarch. The Domus Aurea (Antioch), Great Church of Antioch was the patriarchal seat and the headquarters of the church until , after which Severus of Antioch had to flee to Alexandria, Egypt. After the de ...
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Patriarch Of The Church Of The East
The patriarch of the Church of the East (also known as patriarch of the East, patriarch of Babylon, the catholicose of the East or the grand metropolitan of the East) is the patriarch, or leader and head bishop (sometimes referred to as Catholicos or universal leader) of the Church of the East. The position dates to the early centuries of Christianity within the Sassanid Empire, and the Church has been known by a variety of names, including the Church of the East, Nestorian Church, the Persian Church, the Sassanid Church, or ''East Syrian''. Since 1552, rival patriarchal lines were established, traditionalist on one side and pro-Catholic on the other. In modern times, patriarchal succession is claimed from this office to the patriarchal offices of the successor churches: the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East. Early history of the Patriarchate of the East The geographic location of the patriarchate was first ...
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Oriental Orthodox
The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christianity, Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is one of the oldest branches in Christianity. As some of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Oriental Orthodox Churches have played a prominent role in the history and culture of countries and regions such as Armenia, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nubia#Christian Nubia, Sudan, the Levant, Iraq and the Malabar Coast, Malabar region of southern India. As Autocephaly, autocephalous churches, their bishops are equal by virtue of Consecration#Ordination of bishops, episcopal ordination. Their doctrines recognize the validity of only the first three ecumenical councils. The Oriental Orthodox communion is composed of six autocephalous national churches: the Coptic Orthodox Church o ...
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