Synod of Diamper
The Synod of Diamper built in 1599 by the Catholic Archbishop Menezes in place Udayampur ( Diamper ), convened in today's Indian state of Kerala. In their decisions to the complete classification of since apostolic times resident in South India Thomas Christians were passed under the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. The Synod and its decisions has never been confirmed by Rome and it is considered a " robber synod ".
Prehistory
When they landed in South India on 20 May 1498 Portuguese encountered a large church indigenous Christians of the Chaldean rite, which was founded by the Apostle Thomas, existed there for centuries. These Christians received their metropolitans and bishops of the Catholicos of Seleucia- Ctesiphon in Iraq today, from which later developed into the Assyrian Church of the East. That patriarchy was already long in loose connection with Rome. Since Patriarch Mar Johann Shimun Sulaqa, consecrated in St. Peter's at Rome in 1553 to the bishop, there is a formal Church Union level and the church is called the Chaldean Catholic Church.
Initially posted by the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch to India bishops were accepted by the Portuguese colonizers, the more they were able to establish their own rule there but more and more suppressed. The Portuguese colonial authorities wanted both the incumbent Thomas Christians and the newly converted Roman Catholics are subject to their own, Portuguese bishops of the Latin Rite. A double jurisdiction they rejected mainly from political reasons, partly for religious reasons. As an additional means to pressure accused the Christians of St. Thomas and the heresy of Nestorianism, as they moved into their bishops from the Chaldean Patriarch. At that time officiated in India, with papal legitimation, 1556-1569, Mar Joseph Sulaqa, the biological brother of Patriarch John Shimun Sulaqa, as the Syro- Catholic Metropolitan. Already in the consistory of February 20, 1553 Cardinal Bernardino Maffei had given a speech on the occasion of the forthcoming presentation of the patriarch Johann Shimun Sulaqua, in which he explicitly attested to the so-called " Nestorians " Seleucia- Ctesiphon in and India; they wore only this term, in reality they are completely orthodox.
Regardless of Portugal initiated in India who never Konfirmierte of Rome and today classified as " robber synod " Synod of Diamper. With the help of the constructed Häresievorwurfs resulted in December 1599 from the subordination of the Metropolitan seat of the Thomas Christians (then in Angamaly ), suffragan under the Latin Archbishopric of Goa. This in turn was completely under the sovereignty of Portugal; The Archbishop was also viceroy and episcopal appointments were made there only in agreement with the Portuguese crown. The last Metropolitan appointed by the Chaldean Patriarch in India was Archbishop Mar Abraham of Angamaly. The Portuguese prevented as a result the arrival of bishops from the Assyrian Church of the East, and after the death of Metropolitan Mar Abraham, in 1597, they increased the pressure on the Thomas Christians, the one with the decisions of the Synod of Diamper reached in 1599 its peak.
The Synod and its decisions
The Synod was held from 20 to 26 June 1599 in All Saints Church to Udayamperoor, chaired by Archbishop Dom Alexis Menezez of Goa.
They took 200 decisions, which, inter alia, The following points had to content:
- Abolition of all customs, on Hindu influences indicated ( vegetarianism, interviewing astrologers, participation in Hindu festivals, etc.)
- Introduction of celibacy
- Solution of all contacts with the Patriarch of Babylon
- Renouncing all doctrines that held the new Archbishop Menezes of Goa heretical
- Delivering all the books of the ancient Church the Archbishop of correcting or burning
- Dismissal of all bishops who have not been confirmed by Archbishop Menezes
- Recognition of the Pope as the supreme authority of the Christian Church
- Recognition of the Archbishop of Goa as the supreme authority in India
In fact, the Church of the Thomas Christians in the Latin Church ( Roman Church, Western Church ) which was kept now. The " Catholic Encyclopedia " of 1912, so a approbiertes of Rome judges work about as follows:
" The only case in which an old Eastern rite was Romanized intentionally, is that of the Malabar Christians. Here it was not the authority of Rome, but the misguided zeal of Alexius de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa and his Portuguese advisers during the Synod of Diamper that destroyed the ancient rite of the Malabar Christians. "
Follow the Synod
Although the Synod was never konfimiert of Rome, had many of the decisions for a long time stock. Some points are binding until today, but not because of that Synod, but by other canonical legislation. At the latest with the demise of the Portuguese colonial rule in South India called you there is not more to the Synod of Diamper.
The late 1597 Mar Abraham was followed by the Latin archbishops Francis Roz SJ († 1624), Stephen Britto († 1641) and Francis Garcia ( † 1659). The Latin prelates were the Chaldean ( = Eastern Syrian ) liturgical against alien and tried to align it with their own Latin Rite. The traditional rite there - now called the Syro- malarbarisch - has been more or less suppressed strongly.
Under Archbishop Francis Garcia of Angamaly, there was a revolt of the Thomas Christians, as this among others a vicar general of the Latin, instead of their own rite for them ordered and it was feared even more oppression. They swore the Coonan Cross in 1653 in Fort Cochin, never again to tolerate the Latin Archbishop of Angamaly or the Jesuits themselves. Explicitly we avoided going to break away from Rome, you only asked bishops of their own rite liturgy and thought of a renewal of the historic jurisdiction of the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church of Babylon. The majority of the Thomas Christians joined the uprising. Both sides remained adamant and Thomas Parambil, the Archdeacon of Archbishop Garcia had, some months later, without consecration as "Against Archbishop " cry, and alternatively from 12 simple priests hang in an "emergency ceremony" hands to catch up with the promise of a bishop.
When it became clear that it would come to a definitive break with the Catholic Church, many recoiled before and fell away from the rebellious group. Rome sent Carmelites immediately to India to curb the threat of schism. Head of the Carmelites was Father Joseph of Santa Maria de Sebastiani OCD. With the help of a bishop consecrated by him Thomas Christians Alexander de Campo is to bring the majority of the Thomas Christians back under the authority of Archbishop Francis Garcia succeeded. The Latin bishops ruled the Catholic Thomas Christians until 1896 by Vicars General of the Chaldean rite, without episcopal ordination, one of which, Kuriakose Elias Chavara ( 1805-1871 ), was beatified. This was followed by auxiliary bishops who remained subordinate to the Latin bishops; only at the St. Thomas Day, December 21, 1923 presented Pope Pius XI. the ordinary hierarchy of the Catholic Thomas Christians of India after more than 300 years to restore, today's Syro - Malabar Church.
The smaller part of the Thomas Christians declared itself autocephalous and the already mentioned Archdeacon Thomas Parambil settled in 1665 the church of Antioch, as Mar Thomas I. subsequently consecrated by Mar Gregorios, Metropolitan of Jerusalem Syriac Orthodox bishop. This was the beginning of a number of schisms within those remaining community of Thomas Christians who continue to this day. They also had to exchange their chaldischen (East Syrian ) Rite against the Antiochian (West Syrian ) of consecrating the Jerusalem metropolitan. 1930 of them returned part, with her later acquired West -Syrian Rite of Mass in the Catholic Church back, Syro - Malankara today's Catholic Church.