Figure 1.--This is a sunday school group at the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox church in Ernakulam, Kerala. Kerala in south -westrn India is one of the areas where Chritianity is stronget, although still a small minority. The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox church i under the holy see of Antioch. We can see that some of the boys wore traditional clothing. It was also common to attend the church shirtless.

There are small number of Orthodox Christians in India, organized in different denominations. The Malankara OrthoThe Eastern Rites church today is known as the Syrian Orthodox Malankara Church. Subsequently a group called Jacobians broke off from the church. We are unsure why this term ws chosen, it is a term used to describe a radical faction, usually a political faction. (The Jacobites oversaw the reign if Terror during the French Revolution.) Why this term was chosen we do not know. It seems a strange term for a Chistian church because the Jacobites persecuted the clergy. Perhaps our Indian readers will understand the use of the term. There is also a Malankara Catholic Church. There are today about eight such denomintions, all quite small. The Jacobite church for a time reunited with the Syrian Orthodox Malankara Church (also called the Malankara Orrthodox Syrian Church), but then split off afain. The two each have only about 1,000-2,000 adherents. The split began with a dispute over the regitration of property and were heightened by diffeences between the patriarch and local hierarchy. They are the only Orthodox churches in India, although there is a Assyrian Church pf the East, an Eastern rites church. India is notable for the ability of small religious communities to thrive today, this is in sharp contrast to the persecution prevalent in many majority Muslim countries.

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Created: 9:30 AM 2/27/2012
Last updated: 9:30 AM 2/27/2012