Synod of Diamper

The Synod of Diamper, held at Udayamperoor/Diamper, (Kerala, India) formally united the ancient Christian Church of the Malabar Coast Saint Thomas Christians with the Roman Catholic Church, and severed its direct ties with the Assyrian church of the East/Chaldean Syrian Church. It convened on June 20, 1599 under the leadership of Aleixo de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, to deal with the problem of Nestorianism. At that time, changes were made to the liturgy (known as the Holy Qurbana) to make it conform to Western theology.

In general the Christians of Saint Thomas were happy to be united to the Roman Church. The result of the synod, however, was unfortunate. As the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) says:

The only case in which an ancient Eastern rite has been wilfully romanized is that of the Uniat Malabar Christians, where it was not Roman authority but the misguided zeal of Alexius de Menezes, Archbishop of Goa, and his Portuguese advisers at the Synod of Diamper (1599) which spoiled the old Malabar Rite.

In 1653 a group of the Saint Thomas Christians gathered at Mattancherry near Fort Kochi under the leadership of their archdeacon. They swore the "Coonan Cross Oath" not to obey the Jesuit missionaries. Subsequently they received a bishop, Mar Gregory, from the Syriac Orthodox Church of West Syrian tradition (though the Saint Thomas Christians had been of East Syrian tradition) took the oath.

Those who accepted Mar Gregory became known as the New Party (Puthankuttukar). The Old Party (Pazhayakuttukur) remained in communion with Rome and constitutes the Syro-Malabar Church. Some of the Puthankuttukar, later reunited with the Roman Church on September 20, 1930 as the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

The validity of the Synod of Diamper has been questioned in history by many scholars. In addition, the theological necessity of the changes made there is far from clear. [ [http://www.synodofdiamper.com/synod.php Diamper Synod - Indian Pilgrim Places ] ]

Aleixo de Menezes, laboring under the shadow of the Reformation and the Council of Trent, was unwilling to give an inch to the customs of the Saint Thomas Christians. Instead, he forged ahead with the latinisation of the St. Thomas Christians started by the Portuguese in the early Sixteenth century.

The Syrian Christians of Eastern churches, both those in union with Rome and those not in union, view Menezes as the harbinger of the darkest era in their history. Indeed Menezes and Vasco da Gama are still seen as foreign villains who imposed Roman authority on a church with apostolic foundations and in ecclesiastical communion with Middle Eastern Christianity. The Synod of Diamper is viewed as the death knell of Nasrani independence.

ee also

* Goa Inquisition
* Nasrani
* Syro-Malabar Church
* Syro-Malankara Catholic Church

=References=

*Paul Pallath, The Synod of Diamper : valid or invalid?, The Synod of Diamper Revisited, Edited by George Nedungatt S.J., Pontifico Instituto Orientale, Rome, 2001, P. 199

=External links=
* [http://www.synodofdiamper.com/synod.php Udayamperoor Synod]
* [http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_20011025_chiesa-caldea-assira_en.html Pontifical Council For Promoting Christian Unity]
* [http://www.synodofdiamper.com/mal/ History of Udayamperoor Synodal Church in Malayalam]
* [http://www.thesyromalabarchurch.org/history.htm History of the Syro-Malabar Church]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14678a.htm#XIII Catholic Encyclopedia: St. Thomas Christians (Archbishop Menezes and the Synod of Diamper)]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13064b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Rites]