Posts

Showing posts from September, 2025

If Apostolic Throne Is the Question, Let St. Peter Answer: Jacobites Need No Borrowed Identity

Image
When History Speaks, Constitutions Tremble: Jacobite Faith Stands on St. Peter’s Rock The history of the Malankara Church is one of deep faith, struggle for identity, and continuing disputes regarding authority and legitimacy. While various narratives exist, it is essential to critically examine the facts, historical continuity, canonical traditions, and legal verdicts in order to arrive at a just and reasoned understanding. This is a response to recent claims, such as those presented in certain infographics, that oversimplify and distort history to present the Indian Orthodox Church (MOSC) as the sole custodian of Malankara’s apostolic tradition. A careful analysis demonstrates that the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, under the supreme headship of the Patriarch of Antioch, represents the authentic continuation of the faith and canonical order of the ancient St. Thomas Christians of India. The infographic in question simplifies the Malankara dispute into a binary opposition between a ...

Priests Are Not Machines

Image
In today’s fast-paced and demanding world, it is easy to forget that priests, like all human beings, are not machines. They are not tireless engines programmed to dispense blessings, perform rituals, and attend to the needs of every person around them without pause or limitation. Priests are human  with minds, hearts, bodies, and limitations  called to a sacred vocation but still bound by the realities of human existence. To treat them as anything less is to strip away the very depth of their calling and to place on them unrealistic burdens that no one could carry. The Psycho-Spiritual Reality At the heart of priesthood lies a profound psycho-spiritual responsibility. Priests are entrusted with guiding others in faith, offering spiritual counsel, and standing as mediators of the sacred. This is not mechanical work; it requires deep emotional investment, discernment, prayer, and constant renewal of inner strength. Every confession heard, every funeral conducted, every pastoral ...

The Crisis of Clerical Integrity: When Ordination Loses Its Meaning

Image
One of the most alarming realities confronting the Church today is the manner in which ordination, once revered as the culmination of years of theological training, spiritual discipline, and moral discernment, is increasingly reduced to a matter of favoritism, convenience, and, at times, financial influence. Within the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, this crisis has become particularly visible in recent years. Traditionally, priesthood in the Syriac Orthodox tradition has never been treated as a casual appointment. Candidates were expected to undergo years of seminary formation, steeped in biblical studies, patristic theology, liturgical traditions, and pastoral orientation. The seminary was not merely an academic training ground; it was a place of spiritual refinement, testing the perseverance, discipline, and faithfulness of those who desired to serve the altar of God. This rigorous process ensured that only those who were spiritually mature and doctrinally sound were entrusted with...