The Church of the East shared communion with the Great Church (Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy) until the Council of Ephesus in the 5th century, separating primarily over differences in Christology and due to political reasons. The earliest recorded organised Christian presence in India dates to the 4th century, when Persian missionaries of the East Syriac Rite tradition, members of what later became the Church of the East, established themselves in modern-day Kerala and Sri Lanka. The Church traces its origins to the evangelistic activity of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century. The Syro-Malabar Church is the largest of the Thomas Christian denominations and the third largest sui juris Church in the Eastern Catholic Communion, with a population of 4.25 million worldwide as estimated in the Annuario Pontificio 2016. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century. Syro-Malabar is a prefix coined from the words Syriac as the church employs the East Syriac Rite liturgy, and Malabar which is the historical name for modern Kerala.

The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the Major Archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the Church. The Church is headed by the Metropolitan and Gate of all India Major Archbishop Mar George Cardinal Alencherry. It is an autonomous (in Latin, sui iuris) particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Syriac:ܥܸܕܬܵܐ ܩܵܬܘܿܠܝܼܩܝܼ ܕܡܲܠܲܒܵܪ ܣܘܼܪܝܵܝܵܐ) is the second largest Oriental Catholic Church and a Major Archiepiscopal Church based in Kerala, India. Pazhayakoor (colloquial name for members) Saint Thomas the Apostle by tradition Ĥ.25 million worldwide as per Annuario Pontificio 2016 Ģ.35 million in Kerala (2011 Kerala state census) With diaspora in USA, Australia and Oceania, Europe, UK, Canada, and Nations of the Persian Gulf Liturgical Syriac, Malayalam, English, Tamil, HindiĮast Syriac Rite - Liturgy of Mar Addai and Mar Mari.

Bible quiz with answers in tamil