Together with Syro-Malabar Christians Founded by St. Thomas
VATICAN CITY, MAR 15 (ZENIT.org).- The pilgrimages of various peoples, and the meeting of highly diverse cultures united in one faith is a salient characteristic of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. This is especially evident in celebrations of Christians of the Eastern rite, one of which will be held this weekend in Rome, attended by Catholics of the Chaldean and Syro-Malabar rites.
As John Paul II was unable to go to Iraq, the Chaldean Christians mobilized to send an large representation to Rome. The Jubilee program published by the Vatican Press Office lists March 18 as the day the Pope will meet with the Chaldean Church, led by His Beatitude Raphael I Bidawid, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans. The meeting will also be attended by Christians of the Syrian-Malabar rite, the majority of whom come from India.
The Chaldean Catholic Church traces its roots to the Eastern Assyrian Church, which extended over the centuries, reaching India, Tibet, China and Mongolia. Its liturgy is derived from Palestinian Christianity, and its language is Syrian, an Aramaic dialect.
Chaldean Church Beginning in the 15th century, the office of Patriarch of the Assyrian Church, which was separated from Rome, has been hereditary, passing from uncles to nephews. In 1552 a group of Assyrian bishops refused to continue with this custom and sought a solution through union with Rome. They elected their own Patriarch, Abad Sulaka, and sent him to Rome where, at the beginning of the following year, Pope Julius III proclaimed him Patriarch with the name Simon VIII "of the Chaldeans." After Patriarch Simon's returned to Mosul, a controversy broke out between Assyrians and Chaldeans, with the principal result being that the majority of the Assyrians joined Rome. Today, two-thirds of the faithful of the Assyrian Church are in full communion with Rome, as is the case with the Chaldean Catholic Church.
All throughout history, Chaldean Catholics were obliged to move their see on numerous occasions. In 1950 the Patriarchy was definitively established in Baghdad, Iraq, where the greatest number of Chaldean faithful live. There are 10 Chaldean dioceses in Iraq, 3 in Iran and 1 each in Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Egypt, and the United States. Egypt has a patriarchal territory. It is estimated that Chaldean faithful number some 500,000. The head of the Chaldean Church, who is elected by the Chaldean bishops and enthroned immediately after, is Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid of Babylon of the Chaldeans.
Syro-Malabar Church The members of the Syro-Malabar Church are direct descendants of St. Thomas' Christians, whom the Portuguese discovered in India in the 15th century. The community says it was founded by the apostle Thomas, India's evangelizer following the death and resurrection of Christ. Located on the Malabar coast, in the southwest of India, in the state of Kerala, they were originally in communion with the Assyrian Church, from whom they received their Bishops.
Portuguese colonization meant the forced Latinization of Thomas' Christians, which ended in schisms, disagreements and the decision by the greater part of Malabars to break with Rome in 1653. In order to resolve the situation, Pope Alexander VII sent Carmelite religious to Malabar and by 1662 the greater part of Christians had already returned to the Catholic Church.
At present Syro-Malabar Catholics in India number 3.5 million, divided in 14 dioceses in Kerala and an additional 10 outside that state. To these must be added some 100,000 in the "diaspora."
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