MAR THOMA SYRIAN CHURCH

Oct. 18, 2020

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the demise of Dr Joseph Mar Thoma, the spiritual head of the Marthoma Christian community.

About:

  • The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church is often shortened to Mar Thoma Church and is also known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar.

  • It is an autonomous Reformed Oriental church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is reformed in its theology and doctrines.

  • The Mar Thoma Church sees itself as continuation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a community traditionally believed to have been founded in the first century by Thomas the Apostle, who is known as Mar Thoma (Saint Thomas) in Syriac.

  • According to the 2011 Census of Kerala it was the sixth largest Christian church in the state.