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40
Southist Catholics (also known as Knānāya Catholics) de facto were in the
Apostolic Vicariate of Kottayam, and the Holy See ordered Bishop Charles
Lavigne to appoint a separate Vicar General for the Southist Community.
When the Apostolic Vicariates were re-organized into Trichur, Ernakulam
and Changanassery and three indigenous bishops were appointed for the
Syro-Malabarians in 1896, the bishop appointed for the Vicariate of
Changanassery was Mar Mathew Makil, the former Vicar General for the
Southist (Knānāya) Community. On 29 August 1911, a new Vicariate
Apostolic of Kottayam was erected exclusively for the Southist (Knānāya)
Community by the Apostolic letter “In Universi Christiani” of Pope Pius
41
X. On 21 December 1923, the Vicariate Apostolic of Kottayam was raised
42
to an Eparchy together with the three other vicariates by Pope Pius XI.
On 23 December 2003, Pope John Paul II made a sovereign decision
that the status quo (pro gente suddistica) of the Eparchy of Kottayam must
be maintained and left it to the Bishops’ Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church
to decide on the desired enhancement of the juridical status of the Eparchy
of Kottayam. In November 2004 the Synod gave its consent to elevate the
Eparchy of Kottayam to the rank of a metropolitan see without a suffrogan
eparchy. On 21 March 2005 the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
issued a letter of no-objection to the decision of the Bishops’ Synod.
Accordingly, on 9 May 2005, the Major Archbishop Mar Varkey Cardinal
Vithayathil issued the decree “The Eparchy of Kottayam” elevating the
Eparchy of Kottayam to the rank of a Metropolitan See, and issued another
decree “God Our Loving Father”, appointing Mar Kuriakose Kunnacherry
as the first Metropolitan of the newly-erected Metropolitan See of
Kottayam. On 3 June 2005, the feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, at a

40 This ethnical distinction also runs across their ecclesial division into Catholics and non-
Catholics. After the unfortunate event of the Revolution (Coonan Cross Oath) of 1653,
about a third of St Thomas Christians became Syrian Orthodox, among whom were also the
Southists in about the same portion. About two-thirds of the Southists are Catholics and the
rest Syrian Orthodox, acknowledging the spiritual authority of the Patriarch of Antioch.
Ecclesiastically also, the Southists - both Catholics and Orthodox - are now organized into
exclusive eparchies. The eparchy of Kottayam is erected exclusively for the Southists
among the Catholics, and the Southist Orthodox have their own eparchy of Chingavanam.
Cf. KOLLAPARAMBIL, J., The Babylonian Origin of the Southists Among the St Thomas
Christians, Pont. Institutum Orientalium, Roma, 1992, p. XXIII. For more details of
Revolution of 1653 see KOLLAPARAMBIL, J., The St. Thomas Christians’ Revolution in
1653, The Catholic Bishop’s House, Kottayam, 1981.
41 Cf. DIRECTORY: ARCHEPARCHY OF KOTTAYAM, Catholic Metropolitan’s House,
Kottayam, 2011, pp. 28-29. Printed Latin Text in pp. 30-31.
42 Cf. PIUS XI, Apostolic Constitution Romani Pontifices, 21 December, 1923, in AAS 16,
1924, pp. 257-262.

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