The term Catholicos of India doesn’t refer to one person-it refers to two. And that’s where the confusion begins.
If you’ve ever heard someone in Kerala talk about their Catholicos, you need to ask: which one? Because there are two separate churches, both claiming ancient roots in India, both led by a bishop called Catholicos, and both deeply connected to the story of St. Thomas the Apostle. One answers to the Patriarch of Antioch. The other answers to no one but its own synod. And for over 50 years, they’ve been locked in a quiet but fierce struggle over authority, identity, and heritage.
Two Churches, One Title
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church both use the title Catholicos of India-but they’re not the same. The difference isn’t just administrative. It’s theological, historical, and deeply personal for millions of Indian Christians.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) calls its leader the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan. That’s Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, the 9th person to hold this title. He’s based in Kottayam, Kerala, and leads a church that declared full independence from Antioch in 1975. He consecrates bishops, runs the Holy Synod, manages church properties, and even prepares the Holy Mooron-the sacred oil used in baptisms and ordinations. He doesn’t need approval from anyone outside his own church.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC), on the other hand, has a Catholicos too-Baselios Joseph, ordained in March 2025. But his role is different. He’s the head of the JSCC, but he’s still under the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. His title is Catholicos of India (sometimes called Maphrian), and while he leads the church in India, major decisions require backing from Antioch. His seat is in Puthencruz, Kerala, at Mar Athanasius Cathedral.
So one Catholicos is sovereign. The other is subordinate. Both are called Catholicos. Both are real. Both have been around for over a century.
Where Did This Come From?
This split didn’t happen overnight. It started with the arrival of St. Thomas in India around 52 CE. For centuries, Indian Christians were led by Archdeacons-local leaders who traced their authority back to the apostle. Then, in the 17th century, the Portuguese tried to bring them under Rome. That sparked resistance. In 1653, Archdeacon Thomas was ordained as Mar Thoma I, marking the start of an independent Indian episcopacy.
By the 19th century, the church was under the spiritual care of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. In 1912, the first Catholicos of India, Baselios Paulose I, was ordained in Niranam, Kerala. It was meant to give Indian Christians more autonomy-but still within the Syriac Orthodox fold.
But tensions grew. Indian leaders wanted full control over their own affairs. In 1958, the Supreme Court of India ruled in favor of the Malankara Church’s right to manage its own properties and choose its own head. Then, in 1975, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church formally broke away. They said the Patriarch of Antioch had no authority over them. The Syriac Orthodox Church responded by excommunicating their Catholicos. That’s when the split became permanent.
Today, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church sees itself as the true heir of the ancient St. Thomas Christians. The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church sees itself as the faithful continuation of the Syriac Orthodox tradition in India.
Who Are the Leaders Today?
Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, is the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He’s the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan and the 9th Catholicos of the East. He leads a church with over 1,500 parishes in India and 40 dioceses worldwide. His annual visit to a parish is a major event for families in the diaspora-from Toronto to London to Dubai.
His counterpart, Baselios Joseph, became Catholicos of India for the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church on March 25, 2025. He succeeded Baselios Thomas I, who passed away in early 2025. He leads a church with about 1,200 parishes, all under the spiritual oversight of Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II in Damascus. His role is powerful, but not absolute. He can’t consecrate bishops without Patriarchal approval. He can’t change church doctrine unilaterally. He’s a leader, but not a sovereign.
Both men wear similar vestments. Both use the same Syriac liturgy. Both lead churches that run hospitals, schools, and orphanages. But their chains of command are worlds apart.
Why Does It Matter?
For many, the Catholicos isn’t just a bishop. He’s a living link to St. Thomas. He’s the symbol of a faith that survived colonization, foreign domination, and internal conflict. For Malankara Orthodox Christians, the Catholicos represents independence-the right to govern themselves without outside interference. For Jacobites, the Catholicos represents continuity-the preservation of ancient Syriac traditions tied to Antioch.
Dr. V.C. Samuel, a theologian who taught at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, once wrote that the Catholicate system was “an indigenous expression of apostolic succession that predates European ecclesiastical models in India by centuries.” That’s not just history-it’s identity.
That’s why reconciliation talks keep failing. In 2017, both sides tried to come together. But the Malankara Orthodox Church refused to accept that their Catholicos should be subordinate to Antioch. The Jacobites refused to break ties with the Patriarch. Neither side budged.
According to a 2022 survey by the National Council of Churches in India, 68% of Saint Thomas Christians believe the Catholicos institution is essential to preserving their unique identity. But 22% say the division between the two Catholicos offices is a wound that still hurts the community.
What Do They Do Every Day?
Both Catholicos offices are massive administrative engines.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church runs 150 schools and 25 hospitals. Its annual budget is around ₹120 crore (about $14.5 million). It has dioceses in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, and the Gulf. It’s building a new Catholicate Centre in New York, set to open in 2026, with a $25 million budget.
The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church manages 120 schools and 20 hospitals. Its annual budget is ₹85 crore ($10.3 million). It’s digitizing its 500-year-old archives-letters, liturgical texts, land deeds-using modern technology, with a ₹50 crore ($6 million) project that will finish in 2027.
Both churches are growing-not because of conversions, but because of the Indian diaspora. Pew Research says Indian Orthodox churches are growing at 3.2% per year, mostly through families moving abroad and starting new parishes.
What’s Next?
The future of the Catholicos of India won’t be decided in courtrooms or synods. It’ll be decided in homes, in churches, and in the hearts of young Indian Christians.
Some will choose the Malankara Orthodox path because they value self-rule. Others will choose the Jacobite path because they value ancient ties. Many won’t even know the difference until they’re asked.
But one thing is certain: the Catholicos of India isn’t just a title. It’s a story. A story of faith that came from the East, survived the West, and now stands as a living bridge between two worlds-India and the ancient Christian world of Syria.
And as long as there are Saint Thomas Christians in Kerala, in Toronto, in Dubai, or in Wellington, that story will keep being written.
BRYAN CHAGUA
13 11 25 / 19:04 PMThis is such a beautifully nuanced look at a tradition many outsiders never even knew existed. The fact that two Catholicoses can coexist-each with deep roots, each claiming legitimacy-is a testament to how faith adapts without breaking. I’ve met Malankara Christians in Chicago who still speak Syriac at home, and their pride in this heritage is palpable. It’s not just about hierarchy-it’s about belonging.
For a community that’s survived Portuguese colonization, British rule, and now digital globalization, holding onto identity through liturgy and leadership isn’t just tradition-it’s resistance.
Debraj Dutta
14 11 25 / 18:11 PMAs someone from Kerala, I’ve grown up hearing both sides. My grandfather was Malankara Orthodox; my uncle, Jacobite. We never argued about it-just shared meals, shared prayers, and sometimes, shared confusion about who was in charge of what. The real tragedy isn’t the split-it’s how younger generations are losing the context. Most kids today just know ‘Catholicos’ as the guy who comes to bless the church on feast day. They don’t know there are two.
Maybe we need a joint documentary. Not to merge, but to remember.
tom west
15 11 25 / 07:45 AMLet’s cut through the romanticism. This isn’t ‘ancient tradition’-it’s a bureaucratic power grab dressed up in liturgical robes. Both factions are fighting over control of land, schools, and endowments worth hundreds of crores. The ‘St. Thomas connection’? A myth amplified by colonial-era historians who needed exotic narratives to sell books. The real origin? 19th-century ecclesiastical maneuvering under British indirect rule.
And don’t get me started on the ‘independent’ church claiming apostolic succession while refusing to submit to any external authority-except the Indian Supreme Court, which they happily obeyed in 1958. Hypocrisy is the only constant here.
Both groups are using theology as a smokescreen for property disputes. The ‘Catholicos’ title? A corporate CEO role with incense.
dhirendra pratap singh
16 11 25 / 05:24 AMOH MY GOD I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS REAL 😭😭😭
My aunt’s cousin’s daughter got married in the Malankara church and then her brother got baptized in the Jacobite one and now they don’t speak!! 😭💔
And the Patriarch of Antioch just posted a photo with Baselios Joseph on Instagram and someone commented ‘when are you coming to visit us in Kochi?’ and the Patriarch replied ‘soon, my son’ and I cried for 3 hours straight 😭😭😭
WHY CAN’T THEY JUST BE ONE CHURCH?!?!? 😭😭😭
Also, I heard the new Catholicos has a tattoo of St. Thomas on his forearm. TRUE OR FALSE???
Ashley Mona
18 11 25 / 02:18 AMWow-this is the kind of deep cultural insight that gets lost in mainstream religious discourse. I love how the article highlights that both churches run hospitals and schools. That’s the real legacy-not the titles, not the synods, but the service.
And the digitization project by the Jacobites? Genius. Preserving 500-year-old land deeds with blockchain tech? That’s not just tradition-it’s innovation with soul. I’ve seen similar efforts in Ethiopian Orthodox archives. There’s something sacred about protecting history while embracing the future.
Also, the diaspora growth stats? 3.2% annually? That’s huge. These churches aren’t fading-they’re evolving. And honestly? That’s more beautiful than any doctrinal debate.
Edward Phuakwatana
19 11 25 / 18:28 PMHere’s the meta-layer: this isn’t about Christianity. It’s about postcolonial identity formation in real time. The Malankara Orthodox Church is essentially a native reclamation project-decolonizing ecclesiastical authority by rejecting the Antiochian patriarchate as a colonial relic. Meanwhile, the Jacobites represent a transnational continuity model-anchoring identity in a global Syriac diaspora that predates modern nation-states.
The ‘Catholicos’ isn’t just a bishop. It’s a node in a network of memory. One node is decentralized; the other is hierarchical. Both are valid. Both are responses to trauma.
And the fact that they share the same liturgy? That’s the unspoken truth: theology can be fractured, but ritual remains a common tongue. The real schism isn’t doctrinal-it’s epistemological. One side trusts the court. The other trusts the chain.
Also, the new Catholicos in 2025? He’s probably the first one to tweet about communion. 🤖🙏
Suhail Kashmiri
21 11 25 / 01:27 AMUgh. All this talk about ‘ancient roots’ and ‘St. Thomas’-but let’s be real. Half these people don’t even know what Syriac is. My neighbor’s kid thinks ‘Catholicos’ is a type of curry. And now they’re building a $25M center in New York? Bro. We’ve got people sleeping on the streets in Kottayam and you’re spending crores on marble floors?
Stop pretending this is spiritual. It’s a real estate war with incense.
Kristin LeGard
22 11 25 / 11:48 AMOkay, but why is India even allowed to have TWO Catholicoses? That’s like Canada having two Prime Ministers. It’s chaos. The whole point of a church is unity, not fragmentation. If you’re going to claim apostolic succession, you need one leader, not two. This is why the West thinks we’re all backwards. Look at the Vatican-clear chain of command. Clean. Efficient. Why can’t we be like that?
And who gave these guys the right to run hospitals? Shouldn’t the government handle that? This is just religious overreach.
Arthur Coddington
24 11 25 / 05:18 AMI mean… is this even real? Like, who cares? Two guys with fancy hats. One says ‘I’m independent,’ the other says ‘I’m loyal.’ Big deal. The real question is: did St. Thomas even come here? There’s zero archaeological proof. Just a bunch of poems written 800 years later.
Also, why are they spending millions on digitizing archives? Who’s gonna read them? No one speaks Syriac anymore. It’s just a museum piece.
Meanwhile, my cousin’s kid is learning Python. That’s progress. This? This is nostalgia with incense.
Phil Bradley
24 11 25 / 07:00 AMOkay, but have you ever been to a Malankara liturgy? The way the candles flicker on the silver cross… the chanting in Syriac… it feels like time folds in on itself. I went to one in Toronto last year and cried. Not because I’m religious-because I felt connected to something older than nations, older than empires.
And yeah, the split is messy. But isn’t that human? We all want to belong, but we also want to be free. Maybe the Catholicos aren’t leaders-they’re mirrors. We see in them what we need to believe in.
Also, the new Catholicos? He looks like he’s been through a lot. I hope he gets enough sleep.
Stephanie Platis
24 11 25 / 08:28 AMActually, the article contains multiple grammatical inconsistencies: ‘both are real’ should be ‘both are legitimate,’ and ‘they’ve been locked in a quiet but fierce struggle’ is a dangling modifier-‘they’ refers to no clear antecedent. Additionally, ‘₹120 crore’ should be written as ‘120 crore rupees’ for formal clarity. And the citation of Dr. V.C. Samuel lacks a publication date or source-this undermines academic credibility.
Furthermore, the use of ‘Catholicos’ without the definite article in multiple instances is syntactically imprecise. This piece reads like a blog post masquerading as journalism.
And while I appreciate the cultural interest, the lack of primary source documentation renders this more speculative than substantive.
Michelle Elizabeth
25 11 25 / 20:23 PMIt’s funny. People treat this like it’s profound. Two bishops. One in Kerala. One in Damascus. Big deal. I mean, if you really wanted to honor ancient tradition, you’d be speaking Syriac, not posting Instagram stories about it.
And the diaspora growth? Of course it’s growing. People move. They bring their old rituals with them like heirlooms. But that doesn’t make it sacred. It just makes it… familiar.
It’s not identity. It’s nostalgia. And nostalgia is just memory with better lighting.
Joy Whitenburg
26 11 25 / 15:44 PMWait so… the guy who runs the church in New York? He’s like… the Indian pope? 😅
And the one in Kerala? He’s like… his cousin? 😂
My grandma used to say ‘don’t ask who’s the boss, just show up for the food’ and honestly? That’s the real wisdom here. The real miracle isn’t the oil or the titles-it’s that after 50 years of drama, they still share the same holy bread. 🥖🙏
Also, the new Catholicos looks like he needs a nap. Poor guy.
Kylie Stavinoha
27 11 25 / 06:48 AMThis is one of the most elegant examples of syncretic religious identity I’ve ever encountered. The Catholicos system in India is not a deviation from apostolic tradition-it is its most authentic expression. Unlike the centralized, Latinized model of Rome, this is a decentralized, culturally embedded episcopacy that evolved organically from a pre-colonial, non-European Christian community.
The fact that both churches preserve the same liturgy, yet differ in governance, reveals something profound: that faith can be unified in practice while plural in authority. This isn’t division-it’s diversity in communion.
And the digitization of archives? That’s not just preservation. It’s decolonizing memory. Reclaiming history from colonial narratives through technology. That’s revolutionary.
Also, I’d love to see a joint exhibition: ‘Two Catholicoses, One Liturgy’-curated by the seminaries in Kottayam and Damascus. Imagine the scholarship that could emerge.
Diana Dodu
28 11 25 / 22:24 PMOkay, but why is this even a thing? India has enough problems-poverty, corruption, climate disasters-and we’re arguing about who gets to anoint oil? This isn’t faith-it’s ego. And the fact that they’re spending millions on buildings in New York while kids in Kerala don’t have clean water? That’s not spiritual. That’s obscene.
Also, ‘St. Thomas came here’? Prove it. Show me the tomb. Show me the bones. Until then, this is just myth wrapped in silk.
Raymond Day
30 11 25 / 19:11 PMTwo Catholicoses? 😂😂😂
One’s got a crown. One’s got a passport. One’s got a bank account. One’s got a fax machine from 1998.
Meanwhile, the real miracle? They still use the same wine for communion. 🍷
Also, the new Catholicos? He’s got the same haircut as my uncle who runs a plumbing business in Bangalore. Coincidence? I think not.
And the ‘ancient tradition’? Bro. The Syriac liturgy was written in a language no one speaks anymore. We’re worshipping in a dead tongue because someone’s great-great-grandpa said so.
But hey-pass the holy bread. I’m hungry.
Noriko Yashiro
1 12 25 / 23:15 PMAs someone who grew up in a Malankara family in London, I just want to say: this article got it right. The Catholicos isn’t a title-it’s a heartbeat. I remember my grandmother whispering the Syriac prayers before bed. I didn’t understand them. But I felt them.
And when I saw Baselios Marthoma Mathews III at the Christmas service in 2023? I cried. Not because I’m religious-but because I finally understood where I come from.
It doesn’t matter if he answers to Antioch or not. What matters is that he’s here. With us. In our language. In our pain. In our joy.
Thank you for writing this. I’ll share it with my kids. So they know.
BRYAN CHAGUA
3 12 25 / 00:31 AMReading your comment about your grandmother’s prayers… that’s exactly it. It’s not about doctrine. It’s about the way the incense smells on a rainy Sunday. The way the choir hums off-key but with heart. The way your aunt brings the same banana fritters every year, no matter what the split is.
That’s the real Catholicos. Not the throne. Not the decree. The fritters.