The Kerala Syrian Christians were members of the Church of the East centered in modern day Iraq essentially since the 4th century onward. It is true that the Portuguese were the ones to introduce Latin Catholicism and that the members of the Syro Malabar Church are the Nasrani who continued to maintain Catholicism. However, a lot of people don’t know this but Mar Abraham of Angamaly, the last Syrian bishop of Kerala, actually converted himself and all the Nasrani to Catholicism way before the Synod of Diamper in 1599.

Mar Abraham was born in Mesopotamia and was sent by the Church of the East to administer to the Kerala Syrian Christians. When the Portuguese arrived to Kerala they regularly quarreled with Mar Abraham whom they didn’t view as the rightful bishop, of course due to him not being a Catholic. They would later imprison Mar Abraham in Goa. After this something very interesting took place. Mar Abraham actually escaped and went straight back to Mesopotamia. This time however he didn’t go see his own patriarch but instead the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. You see during this time the Church of the East actually split into two factions, the Church of the East itself and the Chaldean Catholic Church (a faction in the church that joined the Catholic Church).

Mar Abraham was reordained as a bishop of the Chaldean Catholic Church by its patriarch 1565. He also visited the Pope of Rome who officially made him the Chaldean Catholic bishop of India over the Saint Thomas Christians. When Mar Abraham returned to India, he officially brought the Kerala Nasrani under the Chaldean Catholic Church. Now the Portuguese had no choice but to accept Mar Abraham’s position over the Nasrani because he was ordained and given official orders by the Pope of Rome.

Not entirely true. Mar Abraham of Angamaly, the last Syrian bishop of Kerala, was imprisoned by the Portuguese due to what they considers