After Mesopotamia, Saint Thomas the Apostle reached the Malabar Coast in western India in A.D. 52, and then the east coast, where he died a martyr in A.D. 72.
This Church, which shares a common origin with the Church of Persia, was Latinized by the Portuguese beginning in 1552 and regained its Syrian identity and its Eastern Aramaic (Chaldean) rite in 1919. It became a Major Archiepiscopal Church in 1992. It is led by Bishop Raphaël Thattil, who was elected Major Archbishop in January 2024.
The number of Syro-Malabar Catholics is estimated at 4.5 million, spread across 35 dioceses in India, primarily in the state of Kerala. With the creation of two new dioceses in 2017, the Syro-Malabar Church is demonstrating a genuine missionary zeal despite the rise of Hindu nationalism and increasing persecution and discrimination.
