1}CATHOLICATE OF THE SYRIAN ORTHODOX (JACOBITE) CHURCH OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST  

In the early centuries the Christians in the Persian and the Roman Empires were subject to religious persecutions, so the Church spread its wings without the help of any of the imperial authorities.  After the Roman Emperor accepted Christianity in 315, the church in Rome was spared from atrocities, but from then onwards the Persian rulers adopted a much more hostile attitude towards those Christians in Persia as they were considered as agents of the former.  It was during this period that the office of the Great Metropolitan, which later came to be known as the Catholicate of East, was established in Persia.  As the enmity between the empires increased, the leaders of the Church in Persia found it nearly impossible to continue ecclesiastical commune with the universal Church.  Meanwhile some in the Catholicate of Persia found it more convenient to adopt the Nestorian Christology which was earlier officially rejected by the universal Christian councils for its remarks on the Mother of God; thus they tried to convince the Persian rulers that they distance themselves from the mother Church and the Roman (Byzantine) Empire.  By this act, the Christians in Persia who accepted Nestorian Christology could easily win the favour of the Persian rulers while those of non-Nestorian faith suffered severe persecution.  As the office of the Catholicate fell into heresy, the Orthodox faithful were wandering in wilderness.  The Catholicos of Seleucia meanwhile took over the title 'Patriarch', thus trying to be equal in status with the Patriarch of Antioch.

Even though the Church in Persia had officially accepted Nestorius as a Church father, a substantial group of Christians in Mosul, Niniveh and Tigris (Tagrit) continued to keep their loyalty to the old faith.  A few decades later the Orthodox wing of the Church in Persia that continued to be under the Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch & all the East, got reorganized under St. Ya`qub Burdono and installed St. Ahudemmeh as 'The Great Metropolitan of the East', but he too found it difficult to discharge his ecclesiastical duties smoothly.  However by the 7th century the situation changed for better which finally led to the formation of an office of the 'Maphrianate of the East’ at Tigrit (Tagrit).  

In AD 629, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East elevated St. Marutha (Marooso) as the first MAPHRIYONO OF THE EAST for the rejuvenated Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church in Persia. Later the centre of the Maphrianate was shifted to St. Mathew’s Dayro in the city of Mosul in Iraq and continued there till the middle of the 19th century.

Catholicate in Malankara (India)

In 1860 the office of Maphrianate was abolished as per the decision of the Syrian Orthodox Church Synod held at Deyrul' al Zafran Monastery (Kurkkumo Dayro) under Patriarch Ignatius Ya`qub II.  The same was re-established in India in 1964 by the Universal Synod held at Kottayam, presided by Patriarch Mor Ignatius Ya`qub III.  From the days of the establishment of this Maphrianate in India, the Church started to officially use the title ‘Catholicos of the East’, with his jurisdiction limited to India in the East  In 2002 the office of the Maphrianate was renamed ‘Catholicos of India’ in accordance with its actual jurisdiction. Present headquarters of this ancient Catholicate (Maphrianate) of the Syrian Orthodox Church is at Puthencuriz, Cochin, with Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I as the Chief of the Church in India 

In Episcopal dignity the Catholicos ranks second to the Patriarch.  As His Holiness’s deputy, the Catholicos preside over the provincial Holy Synod.  He and all the clergy of the faithful in India pledge loyalty to the Patriarch of Antioch, the supreme spiritual authority of the Syriac Orthodox Church throughout the world. In its long history there are many instances when a Maphrian (Catholicos) was elevated to the position of the Patriarch in the Syrian Orthodox Church.

     The Maphryono's (Catholicos') from the Middle East who died in India

               1. St. Baselios Yeldo  (d. 1685)   [entombed at the Marthoma Church, Kothamangalam ]

               2. Mor Baselios Sakralla III (d. 1764)   [entombed at the Marth Mariam Church, Kandanad]      

               3. Mor Baselios Augen I     (1964-1975)

               4. Mor Baselios Paulose II  (1975-1996)   [entombed at the Malecuriz St. George Dayro]

               5. Mor Baselios Thomas I   (2002-      )

2}  CATHOLICATE OF MALANKARA ORTHODOX SYRIAN CHURCH

This wing of the Orthodox Church in Kerala, India, originated in 1912 with the establishment of an autonomous Maphrianate/Catholicate for the section separated from the ancient Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Christian Community of Malabar.  The Chief of this Church since then assumed the title ‘Catholicos of the East’.  In 1934, this independent group got organised itself under the banner ‘Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church’ with headquarters in the town of Kottayam in southern Kerala. Though in 1964 the group reunited with the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church following the consecration of a Catholicos by the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, they once again separated from the Holy Church in mid-1970's.  The present Catholicos of the Church is Mar Baselios Marthoma Didymos I.

3} CATHOLICATE (PARTRIARCHATE) OF THE ASSYRIAN CHURCH OF EAST 

Nestorian Church which is also called the 'Church of the East' and more recently the 'Assyrian Church', is one of the most important sections of the ancient Christian Congregations in Persia.  By the end of the 5th century, when the chief of the Persian church (Catholicos of Seleucia), adopted Nestorian doctrinal teachings, a vast majority of faithful followed him.  In 498, the section declared their independence claiming it as an exclusive Persian Church. Since then the Catholicos (also called 'Catholicos-Patriarch') of the Persian Church assumed the title 'PATRIARCH of the East, sometimes known as 'Patriarch of Babylon'.  

At present there are two independent Patriarchates for the Assyrian Churchof East. It was in the middle of the 20th century, a split happened in the Church which resulted in the formation of two independent factions.  The dispute was triggered off in the Church after the reigning Patriarch Mar Simon decided to adopt the Gregorian calendar in 1964.  But the actual reason behind the controversy was over the hereditary succession of the Patriarchs that started in 1450.  The office of the Patriarch and some other Episcopal sees had since then become hereditary within one family, usually being passed down from uncle to nephew. Opposing this practice, a section under a Metropolitan separated in 1968 and this led to the formation of a parallel Catholicate/Patriarchate.  However in 1973, the age old practice of hereditic succession came to end with the retirement of the Patriarch Mar Simon in 1973, who had himself become the prelate at a young age of 12.  But the division that occurred in 1964 still continues and two parallel Patriarchates are functioning in the Church of the East. 

Mar Dinkha IV with his residence in Chicago USA, is the current Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East; the official name of the Church is 'Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East'.  They follow the Gregorian calendar since 1964.  This Church has about 30,000 faithful in Kerala (India). In India the Assyrian Church is also referred to as Chaldean Syrian Church which must not be mistaken for the Church in Roman Catholic communion). 

4} CATHOLICATE OF THE ANCIENT CHURCH OF THE EAST 

The Ancient Church of the East was formed in 1968 following certain disputes with the Assyrian Church.  Even after the split they stick to the Julian calendar whereas the other sect is now using the Gregorian calendar. The Primate of the Church is called, the 'Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East'.  The present Patriarch is Mar Adai II, residing in Baghdad.

5}CATHOLICATE (PATRIARCHATE) OF THE CHALDEAN CHURCH OF EAST

The Chaldean Church which is in commune with the Roman Catholic Church is a break away group of the Nestorian Church. The Church came into existence in AD 1445 after the then chief of the Nestorians embraced the Roman Catholic faith. The Chief of the Church used the title ‘Patriarch of Chaldeans’ from its inception. Their headquarters is in Bagdad, Iraq. The present primate of the Chaldean church is Mar Emmanuel III Delly. The official title of the Chaldean primate is 'Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans'. 

More recently, in 2005, the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church of India which separated from the Malankara Orthodox Church to join the Roman Catholic Communion in 1930’s has also created a Catholicate. The first Catholicos who adopts this title is Cyril Mar Baselios, the head of the Malankara Catholic Church and the Archbishop of Trivandrum diocese. He is the fourth successor to Mar Ivanios, the founder of the Church. It was this Mar Ivanios, along with Mar Dionysius Wattasseril, was instrumental in the formation of the Malankara Orthodox Church in India towards the beginning of the 20th century.

PART  II

Chronological order of the Catholicos/Maphriyono's of the East

[II].  CATHOLICOS OF SELEUCIA/EAST

Around 300 AD, attempts were begun to establish the Church in the Persian Empire in an organised form. In Persia, till then, there was no particular or specific bishop, who was deemed the head. It was Papa Bar Aggai, the bishop of the Persian royal capital at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, who for the first time, tried to bring about the consolidation of the Church. In fact, from around 315 AD, he had been using the title ‘CATHOLICOS’ in his communications. But this title, with its full jurisdictional implications, gained legal recognition only by 410 AD, at the Synod of the Persian Bishops held at Seleucia. The referred Council was held under the auspices of Bishop Mor Marutha of Muipharqat of the Eastern Roman Empire, after obtaining the letter of consent from the Patriarch of Antioch and the prelates of Aleppo, Edessa, Tella and Amid. It was this historic Synod that upheld for the first time, the primacy of the Seleucian bishop. MOR ISHAQ (Issac), the bishop of Seleucia, thus became the head of the Persian Church and was acknowledged the first "CATHOLICOS OF THE EAST", with jurisdiction over the entire Persian Empire. 

The ‘Catholicate of the East’ was set up to serve as a link between the Antiochean Patriarchate situated in the Eastern Roman Empire and the Syrian Christians living in the Persian Empire. With this, the Persians who had found it politically hazardous to go over to the Patriarchate for obtaining Episcopal ordination and fulfilling the ecclesiastical needs, could still claim and maintain apostolic relation with the Holy See of Antioch. The ‘Catholicos of Seleucia/East’ was the deputy of the Patriarch of Antioch with certain privileges including that of consecrating the Bishops on behalf of the Patriarch.  

Furnished below is the chronological list of the occupants of the seat of Catholicate, beginning from Mor Ishaq.

[III].  GREAT METROPOLITANS OF THE EAST
Bishops ordained for the rejuvenated Syrian Orthodox (Jacobite) Church in the Persian East after the
‘Catholicate of the East’ fell into ‘Nestorian’ heresy.

References:

1.  Kalloopparambil Fr. V M Geevarghese :  "The Patriarchate of Antioch and the Malankara Syrian Church", 1995.
 2. Wolfgang Hage: "Syriac Christianity in the East", 1997.
3.  H.G. Kuriakose Mor Kurillos: "The Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church and The Catholicate of the East", 1990.
4.  Chediyath Geevarghese: "Sabha Charithra Padanagal", 1996.
5.  Chediyath Geevarghese: "BarEbraya Sabhacharithram", 1990.
6.  O.S.S.A.E. Publication: "Catholicate History", 1999.
7.  Dr. D Babu Paul: "The Saint from Kooded", 1985.
 8. H.G. Thomas Mor Athanasius (Muvattupuzha): "Relationship between the Orthodox Churches", 1990.
9.  Chronological list of Patriarchs of Antioch published in the ‘Syriac Orthodox Resources’ web site.
10. Christine Chaillot: “The Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch and all the East”, 1998.
11. Patriarch Ignatius Aphram I Barsoum, translated by Matti Moosa: “History of Syriac Literature and Sciences”, 2000.
12. Hollerweger Hans: “Living Cultural Heritage – TURABDIN”, 1999 .

Source : http://catholicose.org