For all I know, Gilbert, "Mar Toma" is how St. Thomas the Apostle was called by the locals. So, "Mar Toma Christians" and "Christians of St. Thomas" are two slightly different appelations of the same reality. Those Christians are also called "Martomites". Maybe someone on this list will be able to clarify this better.
Even today, bishops - both orthodox and catholic of the Oriental rites - use "Mar" before their name. They are not known as "Mgr." as those of the Latin rite (nor, of course, as "Dom" as the bishops of Portuguese and Spanish language countries). Jorge ----- Original Message ----- From: Gilbert Lawrence <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 6:13 AM Subject: [Goanet]RE: Malabar Christians > Subject: Malabar Christians > > In the post on Malabar Christians, the author called the Persians or > Syriac Christians as 'Christians of St. Thomas'. I may be wrong, but to > the best of my knowledge, the group is called Mar-Toma Christians. > That's because this group was led to India from Persia in the fourth > century by a leader called Mar-Toma. The group had no direct linkage to > St. Thomas, The Apostle. Any one in the know please clarify. Regards, > Gilbert > ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
