Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church

Brahmavar (Goan) Orthodox Church is a split faction from the Catholic Church formed under the leadership of Bishop Antonio Francisco Xavier Alvares in 1889.

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 Syrian Orthodox Church and eventually, after Alvares died, this Brahmavar (Konkani) community had come into existence since then as a part of the Indian Orthodox Church. The church uses the Tridentine Mass, in Konkani, although, in recent years, part of the liturgy has been West Syrianized, with use of the West Syrian Rite 3 times out of 4 in a month when it comes to Sundays.

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 (Indian) Orthodox Church.