The Juridical Figure of the Catholicos in the Catholic Church

Abstract

This work is an upshot of the doctoral research of Rev. Dr George Thomas Kochuvilayil whereby he establishes categorically the legitimacy of the Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church sui iuris in holding the title “Catholicos”. Since the title “Catholicos” is not allude to the present Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO), in his research pursuit, the author makes an in-depth historical investigation and a logical juridical analysis of the pertinent topic to debut his arguments. The author, therefrom, hopes “that in the next revision process of the Eastern code the title ‘Catholicos’ will be considered” which would in turn “open a way for the re-union” of the non-Catholic Malankara Churches to the Catholic fold. This is remarkably a thought-provoking work and, it will certainly be helpful to those who engage in research, teaching or study on the title of oriental hierarchs. The author makes valid argumentations in justifying the title “Major Archbishop Catholicos”, nonetheless, to a juridical mind, the title still seems to be canonically ambiguous. The work is divided into three chapters.