Synod of Diamper - Destruction of Syriac Books

Destruction of Syriac Books

The decree XVI ordered that all the Syriac MSS should be handed over to the Archbishop or his deputy on visit to the Churches. Due to the lack of printed books, the Qurbana MSS were excluded from this.

Some of the other books which are said to be burnt at the synod of Diamper are, 1.The book of the infancy of the savior (history of our Lord) 2. Book of John Braldon 3. The Pearl of Faith 4. The Book of the Fathers 5. The Life of the Abbot Isaias 6. The Book of Sunday 7. Maclamatas 8. Uguarda or the Rose 9. Comiz 10. The Epistle of Mernaceal 11. Menra 12. Of orders 13. Homilies (in which the Eucharist is said to be the image of Christ) 14. Exposition of Gospels. 15. The Book of Rubban Hormisda 16. The Flowers of the Saints 17. The Book of Lots 18. The Parsimon or Persian Medicines.

There are only very few Syriac MSS which withstood the destruction. More recently, Dr Istvan Perczel, a Hungarian scholar researching Syrian Christians in India, found that certain texts survived the destruction of Syriac religious writings by the Portuguese missionaries.

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.

Some time after the Synod of Diamper, on 25 November 1599, a letter was send to Pope by Archdeacon, giving information about the Synod and its work. The letter praises the work of Menezes and request the appointment of Menezes or Fr. Francis Roz as their Bishop. The letter hardly represent the genuie sentiments of Archdeacon as by that time he was completely at the mercy of the will of Portuguese and the only thing left for him was to follow their directives.

In this way the Synod of Dimaper achieved one of the aims of the Portuguese policy in Kerala, to separate the Syrian Christians of Malabar from the Chaldean Patriarch and to extend the influence of Portuguese Padroado in India. As a result, the King of Portugal, got the right of nomination to the ancient See of Saint Thomas in Malabar. The Archbishopirc of Angamale was degraded to a Portuguese Padroado diocese under Goa in August,4th 1600 AD.

The oppressive rule of the Portuguese padroado provoked a violent reaction on the part of the St. Thomas Christian community. The first solemn protest took place in 1653. Under the leadership of Malankara Mooppen Thomas, Nazranis around Cochin gathered at Mattancherry church on Friday, January 24, 1653 (M.E. 828 Makaram 3) and made an oath that is known as the Great Oath of Bent Cross. The following oath was read aloud and the people touching a stone-cross repeated it loudly.

By the Father, Son and Holy Ghost that henceforth we would not adhere to the Franks, nor accept the faith of the Pope of Rome.

(The Missionary Register for 1822 seems to be the earliest reliable document available). Those who were not able to touch the cross tied ropes on the cross, held the rope in their hands and made the oath. Because of the weight it is said that the cross bent a little and so it is known as ‘’Oath of the bent cross (Koonen Kurisu Sathyam)’’

Four months after this event according to their ancient tradition 12 elders of the church laid their hands on Malankara Mooppen Thomas and ordained him as Mar Thoma I.

After the Coonan Cross Oath, between 1661 and 1662, out of the 116 churches, the Catholics claimed eighty-four churches, leaving Archdeacon Mar Thoma I only thirty-two churches. The eighty-four churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syro Malabar Catholic Church have descended. The other thirty-two churches and their congregations were the body from which the Syriac Orthodox (Jacobites & Orthodox), Thozhiyur (1772), Mar Thoma (Reformed Syrians) (1874), Syro Malankra Catholic Church have originated. In 1665, Mar Gregorios Abdul Jaleel, a Bishop sent by the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch arrived in India and the native Christians under the leadership of the Archdeacon welcomed him. This visit resulted in the Mar Thoma taking spiritual authority of the St. Thomas Christians.

The arrival of Mar Gregorios in 1665 marked the beginning of the associations of St. Thomas Christians with the Church of West Syria. Those who accepted the West Syrian theological and liturgical tradition of Mar Gregorios became known as Jacobites. Those who continued with East Syrian theological and liturgical tradition and stayed faithful to the Synod of Diamper are known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in communion with the Catholic Church. They got their own Syro-Malabar Hierarchy on 21 December 1923 with the Metropolitan Mar Augustine Kandathil as the Head of their Church.

St. Thomas Christians by this process got divided into East Syrians and West Syrians.