Titus I Mar Thoma XV Mar Thoma Metropolitan | |
|---|---|
| of the Apostolic Throne of St Thomas | |
 | |
| Installed | 18 January 1894 |
| Term ended | 20 October 1909 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Mar Athanasius Metropolitan |
| Successor | Titus II Mar Thoma |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 1867 |
| Consecration | 9 December 1894 |
| Rank | Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Ecclesiastical Title of the Head of the Ancient Indian Church) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dethose 20 February 1843 |
| Died | 20 October 1909 (aged 66) Tiruvalla |
| Buried | Tiruvalla |
Titus I Mar Thoma XV (20 February 1843 – 20 October 1909), better known as Thithos Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Thithos being the Aramaic and form of the name Titus), was the second Mar Thoma Metropolitan (1893–1909) after the Malankara Church split as the Orthodox and reformist factions.
The small state of Kerala is on the southwestern coast of India. In the 1st century, Thomas the Apostle arrived there to preach the gospel to the Jewish community. Some local residents became followers of Jesus of Nazareth; they were known as Nasrani people and their church as the Malankara Church. They followed a unique Hebrew-Syriac Christian tradition which included several Jewish elements and Indian customs.[citation needed]
After the split in Malankara Syrian Church Thithoos Mar Thoma was the Metropolitan of the Reformed Fraction, which later chose the name Marthoma Syrian Church of Malabar, now popularly known as the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church. This church remained completely independent.