The Malankara Orthodox Church was founded by St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in A.D. 52. The church is also known as Indian Orthodox Church and Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Church.
The Church entered into a new phase of its history with the establishment of the Catholicate in 1912.
At present, the Church is using the West Syrian liturgy. The faith of the Church is that which was established by the three Ecumenical Councils of Nicea (A.D. 325), Constantinople (A.D. 381), and Ephesus (A.D. 431).
The Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox Churches namely, Syriac, Alexandrian, Armenian, Eritrean, and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches. The Church is in good ecumenical relationship with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Churches.
This Church now consists of about 2.5 million members, who are spread all over the world, though the majority reside in The state of Kerala in South West India. The Supreme Head of the Church and the present Catholicos is H.H. Baselios Marthoma Mathews III. H H’s residence and the Headquarters of the Church are in Kottayam in the Kerala State of South-West India. The Church as a whole is divided into 30 ecclesial units called dioceses and each diocese is served by a bishop, administratively and spiritually.