Thrikkunnathu Seminary
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Thrikkunathu Seminary is a historicThe New Indian Express,
Meeting proves inconclusive
', 15 January 2009, retrieved 16 June 2009
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
under the ownership of
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...
in
Aluva Aluva () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality and a northern suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is located about north of the city centre. Aluva is known for the Aluva Sivarathri festival, Sivarathri festival, which is celebra ...
,
Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...
.Owing to an ownership dispute between the factions, the '' Methran Kakshi'' and the '' Bava Kashi,'' the seminary was closed in December 1977. The church is a
pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...
site for Christians in India. It is the headquarters of Angamaly diocese of
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...
.


St Mary's Church

:: In 1880 the
Malankara Church The Malankara Church, also known as Malankara Syrian Church, was the unified body of '' Puthankur'' Saint Thomas Christians who claim origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. This community, under the leadership of Thoma I, oppos ...
acquired of land for construction of the church and a cornerstone was laid in 1889. The church began as a small building
thatch Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, Phragmites, water reed, Cyperaceae, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), Juncus, rushes, Calluna, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away fr ...
ed with
coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
leaves which was slowly built out in the early 1900s. Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasios in the early 1930s built the present St Mary's Church.hindu.com,
Mar Athanasius canonized as saint
', 21 August 2004, retrieved 16 June 2009. Note: This independent source calls the Orthodox and Jacobite Syrian churches "factions."
Mar Athanasius both gave away and sold at a very low price much of his inherited land so that Syrian Christians settling in the area could live near the church. The western side of the building was enlarged in 1964. Inside are the tombs of four 19th and 20th century Angamaly diocesan metropolitans, Kadavil Paulose Mar Athanasius (d 1907), Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasios (d 1953) Vayalipparambil Geevarghese Mar Gregorios (d 1966) and Philippose Mar Theophilos.syrianchurch.org,
Thrikkunnathu St Mary's Church
', retrieved 16 June 2009
On 25 and 26 January each year thousands of pilgrims gather at the seminary to take part in the celebrations commemorating the feast (Dhukrono- Death Anniversary) of the metropolitans .


Seminary

A cornerstone for the seminary was laid down in 1904. An English middle school was also planned but never built. Like the newer church building, the seminary was finished and opened by Kuttikkattil Paulose Mar Athanasius in 1930–31. A dormitory for seminary students called the ''Syrian Hostel'' was also built nearby. In the spring of 1931 Syriac Orthodox Patriarch
Ignatius Elias III St. Ignatius Elias III (13 October 1867 – 13 February 1932) (Syriac: ܐܝܓܢܛܝܘܣ ܐܠܝܐܣ ܬܠܝܬܝܐ) was the Patriarch of Antioch, and head of the Syriac Orthodox Church from 1917 until his death in 1932. Biography Nasri was born on ...
began a long journey of mediation throughout India by staying at the new seminary, after first calling on British officials
Lord Irwin Edward Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax (16 April 1881 – 23 December 1959), known as the Lord Irwin from 1925 until 1934 and the Viscount Halifax from 1934 until 1944, was a British Conservative politician of the 1930s. He h ...
in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
and
George Stanley Colonel George Francis Gillman Stanley (July 6, 1907September 13, 2002) was a Canadian author, soldier, historian at Mount Allison University, public servant, and designer of the Canadian Flag. Early life and education George F. G. Stanley was ...
at
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
. A second floor was added in 1956. From its opening in 1931 until the 1970s Thrikkunnathu Seminary was a notable teaching facility for
clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...
in the northern
dioceses In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
of the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...
.syrianchurch.org,
Thrikkunnathu Seminary
', retrieved 16 June 2009


Closing and later history

When the
Malankara Syrian Church The Malankara Church, also known as Malankara Syrian Church, was the unified body of ''Puthankoottukar, Puthankur'' Saint Thomas Christians who claim origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. This community, under the leadership of ...
split in 1975 the seminary's resident
metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...
had been Angamali diocesan head of the official Orthodox church body since the late 1960s. The seminary building, church and grounds ownership was retained by Malankara Orthodox Church. Ownership was disputed in the aftermath and two years later, on 6 December 1977 the seminary and church were closed. Malankara Orthodox metropolitans still reside in the seminary building. In 1997 Philipose Mar Theophilos, then metropolitan of Angamali diocese of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, died while staying at the old seminary building and was entombed next to the church. This tomb was later rebuilt as another room of the church building itself. Since the early 1980s the Patriarch faction started to worship in a rented building called ''Mass Hall'' not far from St Mary's Church.sor.cua.edu,
Malankara Syrian Orthodox Seminary
', retrieved 17 June 2009
Mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...
efforts to settle disagreements over the use ofaluvaindex.com,
St. Mary's Orthodox Chapel, Thrikkunnathu Seminary
'St Mary's Church
the seminary have been unsuccessful. On 3 July 2005, local police were called to the closed church when violence broke out over the long-standing ownership dispute. A government lawyer's automobile was set on fire, priests and others were reportedly hurt and there were claims of
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
. In January 2009 the church had been closed for over 31 years when ''The New Indian Express'', after speaking with a spokesman for the Malankara Orthodox church, reported that "the Catholicos faction was not averse to letting the faithful of both factions worship in the Church, but the top Church officials of the Patriarch faction cannot be allowed in." In January 2006, the Hindu reported that "A meeting of various groups under the Orthodox Church on Sunday at the seminary said that they would protect the seminary property at any cost and warned that the Government would be responsible for the fall out of anyone using force to enter the seminary premises."hindu.com,
Rival factions reiterate claim to seminary
', 17 January 2006, retrieved 8 July 2009


See also

*
Syrian Malabar Nasrani The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Kerala ( Malabar region) ...
* Syrian church in India


References and notes

{{Christianity in Kerala Churches in Ernakulam district 1930s establishments in India