On an Orthodox-Assyrian alliance

(OCP) - To be frank, any kind of Orthodox – Assyrian Church alliance seems to be a distant dream. However, it is always good to keep our hopes high and keep praying for the distant dream. The Christian world is dominated by ecumenism and persecution and Orthodox Christian Churches (EO and OO) churches struggle hard keep their own families in order. Irrespective of all good things, the Orthodox world is dominated by schisms and separations. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox unity itself remains a distant dream. Both Eastern and Oriental families struggle and find it hard to resolve schism and stabilize unity within their own families. In such conditions, it would be very hard to converse on Assyrian-Orthodox unity. Few thoughts are worth considering. My aim is not an in-depth analysis of Assyrian Theology or Christology. I have presented various arguments and the urgent need for Orthodox-Assyrian dialogue for cooperation and unity.

A Brief History of the Church of the East

As we know, the Assyrian churches are descendants of the Church of the East that has East Syriac Orthodox Christian origins using East Syriac Liturgy. St. Thomas the Apostle is the founder of this church according to traditions. Some experts believe that after founding Church of the East, St. Thomas left for India from Basra port in Iraq, and established Church in Malankara/Malabar (Kerala). The ancient Christians of Malankara are called St. Thomas Christians, who had close relations with the Church of the East. Church of East is wrongly called the Nestorian Church, because it is erroneously associated with his teachings. Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches has condemned the teachings of Nestorius.

The Church of East was ruled by Patriarch the East (Patriarch of Babylon, also called Catholicos) ruling from the Patriarchal See of Seleucia-Ctesiphon. Patriarch Timothy I was one of the most famous and extraordinary Primates of the Church of the East. He was well educated, author, outstanding leader and a great diplomat, even though he had to face a lot of incidents and problems during his reign; many of them were marked with controversies. One of the famous events is the debate on the Christian and Muslim faiths between Timothy I and Caliph Mahdi in 781 AD. It was Patriarch Timothy I, who organized an Ecclesiastical Province of India for the St. Thomas Christians in Malabar.

Unfortunately, the advent of Portuguese Roman Catholic Missionaries and the infamous actions of the ruthless imperialist Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes, destroyed and divided St. Thomas Christians. Moreover, Archbishop Aleixo destroyed the ancient Malabar Liturgical textbooks and many valuable documents, which totally erased the history, worship and indigenous liturgy of the ancient Orthodox St. Thomas Christians and their historical relations with the Church of the East...

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