What's A Syro-Malankara Catholic?
A Catholic... that's what!

If any of you out these are a history major like I was... or just plain interested in the history and structure of The Church, you're probably going to be fascinated to read up on the various Rites within The Church.

This link gives a quick, but concise, overview of the various rites. Everything from the Alexandrian Rite Catholics of Egypt and Ethiopia (who were initially evangelized by St. Mark the Apostle), to the Malankarese Catholics of Southern India (who were initially evangelized by St. Thomas the Apostle).

I've found that knowledge of the various Rites of Catholicism can be useful while engaged in discussion/debate with non-Catholics, usually Evangelical Protestants.

To those that claim that Catholicism never existed in the first few centuries of The Early Church, I would ask them; "how do you explain the ancient Rites such as the Maronites of Lebanon or the Italo-Albanians who have always held allegiance to The See of Peter? Or even those who re-united with Rome after they were part of any given schism. They were loyal to Rome prior to... right?

Example: from the Ethiopian Catholic Church website;

Around the year 341 A.D., Saint Frumentius (Abune Salama Kesatie Berhan) was consecrated the first Bishop of Ethiopia by the great Saint Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, who was in union with the Bishop of Rome. Thus the Bishop of Alexandria was the bridge between the Bishop of Rome and the Bishop of Ethiopia.

Well, even if your not big into the whole debate scene... just knowing the history of our Church and how widespread She is, all this I find to be fascinating.