In 1653, a group of Malabar Christians rejected Latinization and joined the Syriac Church known as the “Jacobite” Church. They now called themselves Malankars.
In 1930, part of the Malankara community reaffiliated with Rome. It was recognized as a Major Archiepiscopal Church in February 2005. It is currently led by His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum, who was created a cardinal in February 2012. It has 450,000 members in India. It faces the same challenges as the Malabar Catholic Church.
The Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church has 2.1 million members and is led by Catholicos Baselios Mar Thomas Mathieu III. Another branch of this Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, represented by Catholicos Mar Baselios Joseph, is directly affiliated with the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch (2.5 million members).
