Trinity

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church affirms the doctrine of the Trinity as defined by the ecumenical councils, particularly Nicaea (325 AD) and Constantinople (381 AD). God exists eternally as three distinct persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—who share one divine nature or substance. This is not modalism or Sabellianismus but a genuine threeness of persons within the oneness of God.

The church's East Syriac liturgical tradition embodies this Trinitarian theology in its prayers, doxologies, and eucharistic language. The filioque clause (the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son) is accepted by the Syro-Malabar Church as an Eastern Catholic body in full communion with Rome. This represents a shift from some earlier East Syriac Christianity, which did not include the filioque, but the Syro-Malabar Church now affirms Vatican II's teaching on the Trinity and pneumatology.

The Trinity is not merely abstract doctrine but the living center of Christian faith and worship. The threeness of persons is distinguished from the modalism rejected by the early church, and the unity of divine action is preserved. The church teaches the doctrine through Scripture, Tradition, and the mystical insights of Syriac theological writers.