Palliveettil Chandy

Parambil Chandy (Alexandre de Campo in Portuguese; 1615 – 2 January 1687) was an Indian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Cranganore from 1663 to 1687. He was the first known native Indian bishop.

As archbishop, Chandy headed the East Syriac faction known as the Paḻayakūṟ, or "Old Allegiance", after the Coonan Cross Oath in 1653 brought secession from the Portuguese Padroado. The faction soon returned to full communion with the Holy See as Eastern Catholics and would later become known as the Syro-Malabar Church. Chandy, whose efforts to reconcile the other dissident Indian factions ultimately failed, died in 1687 and his tomb is at the Marth Mariam Church in Kuravilangad.

Historically Saint Thomas Christians were part of East Syriac Church. They came into direct communion with the Church of Rome through the Chaldean Patriarchate with the arrival of Metropolitan Mar Joseph Sulaqa and patriarchal delegate Mar Elias in AD 1554. Historically, the title of the head of the Church of Saint Thomas was the 'Metropolitan and the Gate of India'.

After the Synod of Diamper in 1599, the Church of Saint Thomas Christians became subjected to Latin Church bishops. The Latin missionaries broke the historic connection of Thomas Christians with the Patriarch of Babylon and downgraded the ancient Church of Christians of Saint Thomas into a mere suffragan of the archdiocese of Goa of the Latin Church. Later, the Metropolitanate was reinstated and the Archdiocese of Angamaly was renamed as the Archdiocese of Kodungalloor and its seat moved to Kodungalloor with Latin prelates.

Even though the Thomas Christians were subjected to Latin Church prelates in the hierarchy, the community consolidated under the leadership of the archdeacons as a separate rite with its own liturgy and traditions. The missionaries began to impose Latinisations in their rite of worship and tried to eliminate the authority and status of the Archdeaconate and thereby dishonour the status of their ancient Church of Malabar. The community secretly tried to get prelates from the Patriarchate of the Chaldeans and the Patriarchate of the Assyrians.

The missionaries used their political power to prevent Thomas Christians from contacting with any Oriental Churches and they even arrested and deported Ahatalla, a bishop of West Syriac Rite arrived in Mailappore. Thomas Christians rose up and revolted against the Portuguese in AD 1653 and consecrated (invalidly) the Archdeacon Parambil Thoma as the Bishop of Thomas Christians. This revolt was nearly complete and that changed the politics.

A protest took place in 1653 with the Coonan Cross Oath. Under the leadership of Archdeacon Thomas, the Thomas Christians publicly took an oath that they would not obey the Jesuit bishops. There are various versions about the wording of oath, one version being that the oath was directed against the Portuguese, another that it was directed against Jesuits, yet another version that it was directed against the authority of the Church of Rome However, after this oath, Saint Thomas Christians elevated Archdeacon Thomas to Metropolitan by the laying on of hands by twelve kattanars and he took the title Mar Thoma I.

At this point of time, Rome intervened and Carmelite missionaries were sent to win the Thomas Christians back. Carmelites could convince the majority that the local church needs bishops and the consecration of the Archdeacon Thomas was claimed to be invalid as the consecration was conducted not by any bishop, but by twelve priests. Many leaders of the community rejoined the missionaries and later, due to political reasons.