Dionysius I, Metropolitan of Malankara

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Mar Dionysius I

Mar Thoma VI, Malankara Metropolitan
Malankara Syrian Church
Installed8 May 1765
Term ended8 April 1808
PredecessorMar Thoma V
SuccessorMar Thoma VII
Personal details
Died8 April 1808
Niranam
BuriedSt. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral, Puthencavu

Mar Thoma VI, also known as Mar Dionysius I, was the 6th

Mar Thoma V,[2] in the Pallippuram branch of the Pakalomattom Family(Andoor, Marangattupilly).[3][4][5]

Thoma VI succeeded

Protestant missionaries, and the first translation of the Bible from Syriac to Malayalam
.

Life

The man who would be Dionysius was the nephew of his predecessor as Malankara Metropolitan,

Pakalomattom family. In 1757, as part of a play to assert his authority and autonomy in the Malankara Syrian Church, Thoma V consecrated his nephew as coadjutor bishop and named him his successor, in contradiction to the wishes of the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy. Upon Thoma V's death in 1765, the younger Pakalomattom was ordained as Metropolitan on 8 May, taking the name Thoma VI.[1][6]

As with his predecessors as Metropolitan going back to the first,

Holy Orders, from the tonsure to the episcopal consecration, and thereafter took the name Mar Dionysius.[7] Syriac Orthodox and other critics of Thoma VI saw this as his only ordination, while his supporters saw it as a "re-ordination", but either way, it ended the controversy over the validity of his position.[8]

This done, Dionysius focused on his second primary aim of securing his place as the sole head of the Malankara Church, a measure opposed by some in the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy. To this end, Dionysius appealed to both the

Pazhayakoor (Catholic) and Puthenkoor (independent) factions since the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653. His appeals were considered in Rome, where the Church was willing to grant him temporal but not spiritual authority over the Saint Thomas Christians. In the end, however, no satisfactory deal was ever made and the factions remained separate.[9]

In 1771, Gregorios consecrated a second bishop, Kattumangatt, who took the name

Thozhiyur, outside of the colonial jurisdiction, and established what would become an independent church. This body is now known as the Malabar Independent Syrian Church.[10] Subsequently, however, Gregorios and the other Syrian bishops died and were not replaced, leaving no further internal challengers to Dionysius.[11]

Invasion by Mysore

Mysore was a landlocked kingdom.

Tippu Sultan came to the throne. During that period Christians were persecuted.[12][13]

Velu Thampi in 1799.[17][18]

Relations with the Church of England

Toward the end of Dionysius' reign, Claudius Buchanan (1766–1815) visited Kerala in 1806, and arranged for the translation of the Bible into Malayalam. Dionysius gave him the manuscript of the Bible written in the Syriac language. This manuscript was later deposited in the public library of the University of Cambridge.[19]

During the visit, Buchanan suggested the Malankara Church seek a close relationship with the Church of England. Soon after his visit, Dionysius convened a meeting of church elders at Aarthattu, where he declared the Malankara Church would not accept the Anglican doctrine, nor those of any other foreign church.[20]

Death and succession

Dionysius consecrated Pakalomattom Mathen Kathanar as his successor in 1796 at

Mar Thoma VII
.

Malankara Church Titles
Preceded by
Mar Thoma V
 Metropolitan of the Malankara Church
1765–1808 		Succeeded by
Mar Thoma VII

Notes

  1. ^ a b Neill, p. 67.
  2. ^ "Bishops". Pakalomattom Family. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. ^ Mar Thoma VI the Great, retrieved 14 February 2024
  4. ^ Thomas, KT; Mani, KC. Kizhakekkara Kudumba Charitram (PDF). pp. 19, 46.
  5. ^ Podimattam, John. Kerala Suriyani Sabhacharithasamgraham. pp. 1–23.
  6. ^ Vadakkekara, p. 91.
  7. ^ Neill, pp. 67–68.
  8. ^ Vadakkekara, pp. 91–92.
  9. ^ Neill, pp. 68–69.
  10. ^ Vadakkekara, p. 92.
  11. ^ Neill, p. 69.
  12. ^ Sankunny Menon, P. (1878) A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times (Thiruvithancore Charitram), p. 199.
  13. ^ Mathew, Adv.P.C., Aarthattu pallipattum charitra rekhakalum, pp. 24–26.
  14. ^ Travancore State Manual by Nagam Aiya
  15. ^ History of Travancore by P. Shungunny Menon, p. 245.
  16. ^ History of Travancore by P. Shungunny Menon, p. 245
  17. ^ History of Travancore by P. Shungunny Menon, p. 246.
  18. ^ Puthenkavu Cathedral Smaranika, pp. 175, 183.
  19. ^ Buchanan, Rev. Claudius, Memoir of the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establishment for British India, p. 76.
  20. ^ Mathew, P.C. Aarthattu Padiola, Nazrani Christians of Kerala, p. 114.

References

Further reading

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