Kochi: A historic synod’s contributions to the Church and society in India will be the focus of a six-day seminar scheduled for early March at Kochi, Kerala.

The Syro Malabar Liturgical Research Centre (LRC) will organize the March 4-9 seminar on the Synod of Daimper (Udayamperoor) at Mount St Thomas in Kakkanad, a sub of the commercial capital of Kerala.

Center’s chairperson Bishop Pauly Kannookadan of Irinjalakuda will open the seminar and Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, will give the concluding message.

The Synod of Diamper, held June 20-26, 1599 at the Church of Udayamperoor in Kerala formally tried to unite the ancient Christian Church of the Malabar Coast (modern Kerala state), India, with the Roman Catholic Church. It was convened by Archbishop Dom Alexis de Menezes of Goa.

Diamper synod scene at Udayamperoon church
At the synod, the Chaldean Patriarch of Saint Thomas Christians was condemned as a heretic and schismatic, and the Saint Thomas Christians of Kerala were made to swear that they would not accept any bishop except the one nominated by Rome. The controversial synod led to the Romanization of the local Church.

The Synod also had social influences. It condemned a multitude of customs related to matrimony, death, birth and purification on touching lower castes which were prevalent among the Christians of St. Thomas at the time. Polygamy and concubinage were forbidden and clergymen were banned from marital relations, military services to local princes and other secular indulgences.

The LRC was established to promote serious study and research into the heritage of the Syro-Malabar Church such as liturgy, theology, spirituality and discipline.