Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church
Brahmavar Orthodox Church is a split faction from the Catholic Church formed under the leadership of Bishop Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares in 1889.
The territory of Goa was then Portuguese colony. Antonio Alvarez who was a Roman Catholic priest at the time, opposed the Vatican policies and interference of the Government in Church administration. His pro-Independence periodicals which were also critical of the Roman Catholic Church were banned. He was excommunicated, stripped naked and paraded through the streets. He left the Church with some hundreds of Goan Catholic families and joined the Malankara Orthodox Church and the Brahmavar community has come into existence since then as a part of the Indian Orthodox Church.
Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares was ordained as the first Orthodox Metropolitan of Goa, Ceylon and Greater India in 1889 A. D. by Paulose Mar Athanasius and Geevarghese Mar Gregorios of Parumala at the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam in the state of Kerala.
Presently, they are under the Brahmavar diocese of Malankara Orthodox Church.
