Francis Ros

Dom Francis Ros, S.J (1559–1624) was the first Latin Archbishop of East Syriac Archdiocese of Angamaly-Cranganore, the See of Saint Thomas Christians. He was the successor of Mar Abraham of Angamaly, the Metropolitan of All-India.

Introduction

Ros was a Catalan Jesuit who arrived in India in 1584. He learned Syriac while he was in Goa and Malabar and became the professor of the semitic languages in the seminary of Vaipikotta. He was consecrated bishop of Angamaly by Archbishop Aleixo de Menezes in 1601. His See was later transferred to Cranganore and he was elevated as the Archbishop of Angamaly-Cranganore.^[1] Dom Francis Ros expired on 18 February 1624 and in the old church of North Paravur Kattakkavu, a monument is built for Ros in the sanctuary of the church. Fr. Vincent Parambathara (Vicar: 2004-2007), took the initiative to reproduce the information regarding the exact day and time of the death of Archbishop Ros, as found in the Paravur-Kottakkavu Church in an epitaph written in Vattezhuthu script.

Monument built in the sanctuary of the old St. Thomas Church in North Paravur, in honour of Dom Francis Ros, S.J, the first Latin Archbishop of Angamaly Cranganore

His mission among the St. Thomas Christians

Francis Ros started his mission among the Christians of St. Thomas in 1586, immediately after the Third Provincial Congregation that held in Goa. His first mission was to assist Archbishop Abraham of Angamaly to bring into effect the directives of the Provincial Council (1585).

Francis Ros, the Archbishop of Angamaly-Cranganore

Francis Ros was named the bishop of Angamaly, immediately after the Synod of Diamper that held in 1599. Ros was the successor of Mar Abraham of Angamaly, the Metropolitan of All-India. Ros convoked the Second Synod of Angamaly on 7 December 1603, and the synod resolved three issues that emerged among the Thomas Christians, following the Synod of Diamper.^[2]

References