The history of Syro-Malabar Church starts with St.Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. It is believed that he came to India in 52 A.D. and landed at Kodungallur on the Kerala coast. He preached the Gospel to the high caste families of Kerala, many of whom received the faith. He established several churches and moved on to the East coast of India. He was martyred near Little Mount, Madras in 72 A.D. and his body was brought to Mylapore (Near Madras) and was buried there.

EASTERN CATHOLIC CHURCHES

Eastern Catholic churches are divided into five main traditions. They are: Alexandrean, Antiochean, Armenian, Chaldean and Byzantine (Constantinopolitan). Each of these main traditions are again subdivided into individaul churches which are ranked as Metropolitan Churches, Major Archiepiscopal Churches or Patriarchal Churches. The names of these churches and the number of catholics belonging to each church are given below:

I.Alexandrean

1.Coptic-166,953
2.Ethopian-132,697

II. Antiochean

3.Syrian - 185,870
4.Maronite-2,176,152
5.Syro-Malankara -295,467

III.Armenian

6.Armenian - 142,853

IV.Chaldean

7.Chaldean - 628,250
8.Syro-Malabar -2,939,521

V. Byzantine

9.Byelorussian - 30,000
10. Bulgarian - 15,000

11. Greek - 2300
12. Hungarian - 252,840
13. Italio-Albanian- 61,597
14. Melkite - 1,146,778
15. Romanian- 1,562,979
16. Ruthenian- 461,555
17. Slovak- 400,00
18. Ukranian- 4,194,900
19. Krizevei- 48,770
20. Albanian- **
21. Russian- **

**No information is available about Albanian and Russian Catholic Churches because of the previous communist rule. Ukranian Church with more than four million faithful is the largest Eastern Cathollic Church. The Syro-Ma1abar Church is the second largest Eastern Catholic Church with nearly 3 million faithful. The Latin Church or Roman Church has a following of 880 million.

PATRIARCHATES:
Patriarch is the head of a patriarchal church. Patriarchates have existed from ancient times. Pope, the head of the Universal Church is also the Patriarch of the Roman Church. Six of the 21 Eastern Churches are Patriarchal now. They are: Coptic, Syrian, Maronite, Armenian, Chaldean and Melkite.

MAJOR ARCHIEPISCOPAL CHURCH:
Major Archbishop is the head of a Major Archiepiscopal Church, which has the same structure and autonomy as a Patriarchal Church. The main difference is that the election of a Major Archbishop needs confirmation by the Pope, while that of a Patriarch has only to be notified to the Pope and other Patriarchs. Two of the Eastern Churches are Major Archiepiscopal Churches. They are: Ukranian and Syro-Malabar. The remaining thirteen are Metropolitan Churches.

Syro-Malabar Church was elevated to the status of a Major Archiepiscopal Church on May 20, 1993 with His Eminence Cardinal Antony Padiyara as the First Major Archbishop