Triumph and Tragedy of The Synod of Diamper

This book The Triumph and Tragedy of The Synod of Diamper gives a modern perspective to the fascinating story of a unique Church created by a unique Apostle who believed in the Risen Lord only after physically verifying the truth. In modern times Swami Vivekananda hailed it as the purest of Christianity in the world.</br></br>The existential turbulence it underwent during the 16th/17th centuries under the Portuguese colonialists who sought to refashion this Church according to their western model and to reform the community's social/familial customs and their consequences form the essence of this book. The context is made vivid by briefly describing the story of the Church from its beginning. </br></br>The Synod conducted at Diamper near Cochin in AD 1599 set in motion the reform process. It was a triumph of the Colonialists in one respect and a tragedy in several others. It triumphed in bringing two-thirds of the faithful to the Roman Church. It was also tragic in that the remaining faithful got fragmented into different denominations. Also the social/familial reform efforts yielded but partial success. The progressive Jesuits were unfairly misunderstood and they were replaced by traditionalist/conservative Carmelites. Malabar was the loser in that bargain.</br></br>Although the events narrated herein have become history this is still being perpetuated as an emotive issue by sections of Christians in Malabar. Consequently they have also created emotionally-charged versions of the subject. This author has taken an objective approach and has given the subject a modern perspective fit for the reading of a 21st-century reader.