Our Church: History
Church Constitution of 1934
The church had no written constitution until 1934, but was governed by consensus, traditions and precedence. It was the vision of Mar Dionysius VI. Vattasseril, to have a clearly defined uniform constitution to govern the church administration. He initiated action and appointed a sub-committee with Raosahib O. M. Cherian as convener to submit a draft constitution. The committee members had discussed the fundamental issues with the Metropolitan in several rounds, but it was not finalized and passed (materialized) in Cherian’s lifetime.
After his demise, the constitution was presented in the Malankara Christian Association meeting of 26 December 1934, held at M. D. Seminary. It was adopted and brought to force. The constitution has been amended three times to meet specific situations and needs. The validity of the constitution was challenged by the dissident faction (supporters of Patriarch of Antioch) in the Court, but the Supreme Court’s final verdicts in 1958, 1995, 2017 and 2018 declared the validity of the Constitution. The judgment on 3rd July 2017 states that,
“Malankara Church is Episcopal in character to the extent it is so declared in the 1934 Constitution. The 1934 Constitution fully governs the affairs of the Parish Churches and shall prevail.
As the 1934 Constitution is valid and binding upon the Parish Churches, it is not open to any individual M Church, to decide to have their new Constitution like P that of 2002 in the so-called exercise of right under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India. It is also not permissible to create a parallel system of manage- P ment in the churches under the guise of spiritual t supremacy of the Patriarch.
The Primate of Orthodox Syrian Church of the East I is Catholicos. He enjoys spiritual powers as well as the C Malankara Metropolitan. Malankara Metropolitan F has the prime jurisdiction regarding temporal, ecclesias- in tical and spiritual administration of Malankara Church subject to the riders provided in the 1934 Constitution.
Full effect has to be given to the finding that the spiritual power of the Patriarch has reached to a vanishing point. Consequently, he cannot interfere in the governance of Parish Churches by appointing Vicar, Priests, Deacons, Prelates (High Priests) etc. and thereby cannot create a parallel system of e administration. The appointment has to be made as per the power conferred under the 1934 Constitution on the concerned Diocese, Metropolitan etc.
Malankara Association
The Malankara Association is the elected body consisting of members from parishes which manages and controls the religious and social concerns of the church. Traditionally convened as the Malankara Palliyogam, (meaning Parish assembly of Malankara), the modern form of the association is believed to have been established in 1873 by Pulikkottil Joseph Mar Dionysious II by convening a meeting of the parish representatives in Parumala. In 1876, Mulanthuruthy Synod, an elected body in the name of the Malankara Association officially took charge. Church constitution details the powers and responsibilities of the association.
The Malankara Metropolitan is the president, and the Diocesan Metropolitans are the vice-presidents of the association. The association elects the Malankara Metropolitan, Catholicos of the East, Metropolitans, Priest Trustee, lay trustee, Association Secretary and Managing Committee Members. Each parish is represented in the association by a priest, and lay people elected by the parish general body, proportionate to the member ship strength of each parish.