Chafing under Portuguese and Jesuit efforts to bring their ancient church under Latin control, the Saint Thomas Christians gathered at Mattancherry in 1653 and — so many that they could not all touch the great stone cross — gripped ropes tied to it and swore they would not submit. The oath split the old community: most were later reconciled with Rome as the Syro-Malabar church, while others held to an independent path. It stands as the moment India's oldest Christians insisted on keeping their own identity.
Standard histories of the Saint Thomas Christians.
स्रोत व अधिक वाचन