Francisco Ros

Francisco Ros, S.J was a Jesuit prelate who served as the first Archbishop of Angamaly-Cranganore, associated with the Saint Thomas Christians in the early modern Malabar in South 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. 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.

His mission among the St. Thomas Christians

Francisco Ros started his mission among the Christians of St. Thomas at the end of 1585, 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.

Francisco Ros, the Archbishop of Angamaly-Cranganore

Francisco 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.