Catholicos in the context of "List of Patriarchs of the Church of the East"

The word catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the ancient Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos) 'universal') comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (katholou) 'on the whole, according to the whole, in general', and is a combination of the Greek words κατά (kata) 'about' and ὅλος (holos) 'whole'. The first known use of "Catholic" was by the church father Ignatius of Antioch in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans (circa 110 AD). In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages.

The word in English can mean either "of the Catholic faith" or "relating to the historic doctrine and practice of the Western Church". "Catholicos", the title used for the head of some churches in Eastern Christian traditions, is derived from the same linguistic origin.

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's Saint Thomas Christian (also known as Nasrani) population. According to tradition, these communities originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century (circa 52 AD). It employs the Malankara Rite, an Indian form of the West Syriac liturgical rite.

The MOSC descends from the Malankara Church and its affiliation with the Syriac Orthodox Church. However, between 1909 and 1912, a schism over the authority of the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch resulted in the dissolution of the unified Malankara Church and establishment of the overlapping and conflicting MOSC and Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (JSCC). Since 1912, the MOSC has maintained a catholicate, the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox Church–presently Baselios Marthoma Mathews III–who is the primate of the church.

The patriarch of the Church of the East (also known as patriarch of the East, patriarch of Babylon, the catholicos of the East (ancient Greek: καθολικός katholikós, all-encompassing [καθ- + ὅλου + -ικός]) or the grand metropolitan of the East) is the patriarch, or leader and head bishop (sometimes referred to as Catholicos or universal leader) of the Church of the East. The position dates to the early centuries of Christianity within the Sassanid Empire, and the Church has been known by a variety of names, including the Church of the East, Nestorian Church, the Persian Church, the Sassanid Church, or East Syrian.

Since 1552, rival patriarchal lines were established, traditionalist on one side and pro-Catholic on the other. In modern times, patriarchal succession is claimed from this office to the patriarchal offices of the successor churches: the Chaldean Catholic Church, the Assyrian Church of the East, and the Ancient Church of the East.

Thoma Darmo (21 September 1904 – 7 September 1969) was the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, from 1968 to 1969. Prior to that, he served as Metropolitan of India, from 1952 to 1964, within the Church of the East.

A catholicosate (pronounced /kəˈθɒlɪkəˌseɪt/) or catholicate is a particular ecclesiastical primacy, headed by a primate titled as a catholicos. Such regional primacies exist within various branches of Eastern Christianity, especially those of Oriental Orthodox tradition. The term catholicosate also designates the area of responsibility (territorial or otherwise) of a catholicos. The word is derived from the Greek Καθολικος, meaning "wholeness", and it was used to designate ecclesiastical primacy of some major metropolitan sees.

While a catholicos is sometimes considered to correspond to a bishop in the Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions, a catholicate is typically a larger and more significant organizational division than a bishopric, archdiocese or episcopal see. Catholicates often have distinct cultural traditions established over many centuries.

Khor Virap (Armenian: Խոր Վիրապ, lit. 'deep dungeon') is an Armenian monastery located in the Ararat Plain in Armenia, near the border with Turkey, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Artashat, Ararat Province, within the territory of ancient Artaxata. The monastery was host to a theological seminary and was the residence of the Armenian Catholicos.

Khor Virap's notability as a monastery and pilgrimage site is attributed to the fact that Gregory the Illuminator was initially imprisoned here for 13 years by King Tiridates III of Armenia. Saint Gregory subsequently became the king's religious mentor, and they led the proselytizing activity in the country. In the year 301, Armenia was the first country in the world to be declared a Christian nation. A chapel was initially built in 642 at the site of Khor Virap by Nerses III the Builder as a mark of veneration to Saint Gregory. Over the centuries, it was repeatedly rebuilt. In 1662, the larger chapel known as the "St. Astvatsatsin" (Holy Mother of God) was built around the ruins of the old chapel, the monastery, the refectory and the cells of the monks. Regular church services are held in this church. It is one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in Armenia.

The Principality of Khachen (Modern Armenian: Խաչենի իշխանություն, Khach’eni ishkhanut’yun) was a medieval Armenian principality on the territory of historical Artsakh (present-day Karabakh). The provinces of Artsakh and Utik were attached to the Kingdom of Armenia in antiquity, although they were later lost to Caucasian Albania. In the early medieval period, these provinces were under Sassanid and then Arab suzerainty until the establishment of the Bagratid Kingdom of Armenia in the 9th century. From the 12th century, the principality of Khachen dominated the region. The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII addressed his letters to the prince of Khachen with the inscription "To Prince of Khachen, Armenia."

All of the contemporary sources refer to the ruler of the principality an Armenian prince. The Armenian princely family of Hasan Jalalyan began ruling much of Khachen and Artsakh in 1214. In 1216, the Jalalyans founded the Gandzasar monastery which became the seat of the Armenian Apostolic Catholicos of Albania, forced to Khachen from Partav (Barda) by the steady Islamization of the city. The Khamsa (The Five) principalities maintained Armenian autonomy in the region throughout the Persian-Ottoman Wars. In 1603 the Persians established a protectorate over the Khamsa and sponsored the establishment of a local khanate in 1750.

The Patriarch of the Church of the East was the head of the Church of the East. According to tradition, the Church of the East was founded by the apostles Thomas, Addai, Aggai, and Mari in the first century AD. At the end of the third century or beginning of the fourth century AD, Papa bar Aggai, as bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, was recognised as the first supreme head of the Church of the East, according to the Chronicle of Arbela. The bishopric of Seleucia-Ctesiphon was elevated to the status of metropolitan see at the Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon in 410 and then granted the title of catholicos at the Synod of 424. The title of patriarch was also adopted prior to the end of the fifth century.

In the Schism of 1552, the Church of the East was split into two separate lines of patriarchs following the election of Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa as patriarch and his establishment of union with the Catholic Church in 1553. However, the Shimun line formally dissolved the union with the Catholic Church in 1672 and thus a third line of patriarchs in union with Rome was formed with the appointment of Joseph I as patriarch in 1681. With the end of the Josephite line in 1828 and the appointment of Yohannan VIII Hormizd as patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church in 1830, the Shimun line became the sole remaining line not in communion with the Catholic Church. A schism erupted again in 1968 upon the election of Thoma Darmo as patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, whilst the Church of the East was officially renamed the Assyrian Church of the East in 1976.

Baselios Cleemis (born 15 June 1959) is the current Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.

At the time of his elevation, he was the youngest member of the College of Cardinals and the first cardinal from the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. On 31 January 2013, he was named a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He served as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India from 2014 to 2018, and is currently the president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council.