Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic sui iuris particular church that employs the West Syriac Rite and is in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church,possessing self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. It is one of the major archiepiscopal churches of the Catholic Church and is headed by Major Archbishop Mor Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos of the Major Archdiocese of Trivandrum based in Kerala, India. With more than 1096 parishes, it is one of India's biggest church evangelical establishments.

The Malankara Syrian Catholic Church traces its origins to the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Church employs the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James and is one of the two Eastern Catholic churches in India, the other being the Syro-Malabar Church which employs the East Syriac Rite liturgy.

After the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653, the Malankara faction (Puthenkūttukār) split from communion with the Catholic Church, and supported Archdeacon Thoma I in resisting the authority of the Latin Catholic Portuguese Padroado. They entered into communion with the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Archdeacon Thoma I was consecrated as bishop by Mor Gregorios Abdul Jaleel. After this, the Malankara Church began to adopt the West Syriac Rite liturgy from the Syrian Orthodox Church.

Mor Geevarghese Ivanios, a bishop of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,began a movement in the Malankara Church to reunite with Rome in the 1920s. Mor Ivanios started negotiations with the Holy See in 1926 and two bishops including Mor Ivanios, a priest, a deacon and a layman were received into the Catholic Church together in 1930.

The Malankara Syrian Catholic Church was formed on 20 September 1930 under the leadership of Mor Ivanios, the first Archbishop of the church.

By 1950, there were some 65,588 faithful, and in 1970, 183,490. There are now over 400,000 faithful in over 12 dioceses in India and across the world.

The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is one of two Eastern Catholic Churches in India, the other being the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, which represents the faction of Pazhayakuttukar, which remained in full communion with Rome after the Coonan Cross Oath and employs the East Syriac Rite.