Did the Maronites and Syriac Catholics (West Syriac) ever send missionaries to Kerala?

[Catechesis]

I was just looking at a time line of events for the St. Thomas Christians and I saw that the Church of the East, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Chaldean Catholic Church all at one point sent missionaries/bishops to Kerala for one reason or the other. I was wondering if the West Syriac Catholics as in the Maronites or Syriacs ever historically sent clergy to Kerala?

 

[SyroMalankara]

I was just looking at a time line of events for the St. Thomas Christians and I saw that the Church of the East, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Chaldean Catholic Church all at one point sent missionaries/bishops to Kerala for one reason or the other. I was wondering if the West Syriac Catholics as in the Maronites or Syriacs ever historically sent clergy to Kerala?

No, but the Patriarchate of the Syriac Orthodox Church would waver in and out of union with the Roman Pope, depending on who was in office. Also, the fulfilled reunion of Mor Ivanios was the culmination of about 70 reunion attempts beginning in the 16th Century. Finally, it is said that the controversial (deposed*) Patriarch Moron Mor Ignatius Abded Mshiho II joined Catholicism. 100 years earlier, Moron Mor Ignatius Nemet Aloho, the famous Syriac Patriarch on Pope Gregory’s calendar commission had done the same.

 

[SyroMalankara]

This wiki is an interesting historical tidbit on the complexity of your question:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahatallah

The last few sentences mention that the local priests laid hands on one of their own and from then on considered him Bishop. However, there is more, as this was not fully recognized. The newly ‘elevated’ bishop was treated as head and father of the Community, but his ‘interesting’ ordination was not completely accepted (even by himself). This became ‘regularized’ when Mor Gregorios of Jerusalem (Syriac Orthodox) eventually arrived and perfected the Act.

 

[Catechesis]

This wiki is an interesting historical tidbit on the complexity of your question:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahatallah

The last few sentences mention that the local priests laid hands on one of their own and from then on considered him Bishop. However, there is more, as this was not fully recognized. The newly ‘elevated’ bishop was treated as head and father of the Community, but his ‘interesting’ ordination was not completely accepted (even by himself). This became ‘regularized’ when Mor Gregorios of Jerusalem (Syriac Orthodox) eventually arrived and perfected the Act.

Thanks for the info! But I was also wondering just why the Maronites and Syriac Catholics never sent missionaries? Is it just because India was already claimed by the Syriac Orthodox Church and Assyrian Church? Or did the Maronites/Syriac Catholics not have the resources at the time? Or was India just never of interest? Its just interesting to me because the other very large Churches of Middle East seem to have given much importance to Kerala and evangelizing there. I would assume that Maronites and Syriac Catholics also had adherents doing trade with Kerala from the Middle East.

 

[MorEphrem]

Asking why the Maronites didn’t send missionaries to Kerala is analogous to asking why, historically, the particular Syriac school of Tur Abdin didn’t send missionaries to Kerala. As for the Syriac Catholics, the inception of their Church (as well as their lack of resources) probably explains their inability to missionize a country thousands upon thousands of miles away. The Eighteenth century was the beginning of the end for the Ottoman Empire and they began to crush Christians with increasing jizya as well as legal prescriptions until the next century when they began outright massacres and artificially created famines. As one might think, missionizing Kerala (for Orthodox and Catholic alike) was very low on the list of priorities 18th century on - the primary prerogative was survival.

 

[kdbueno]

I am interested in this topic. I have not seen this kind of pseudo-category in my mind. I will keep myself posted in these issues.