 This would have the double aim of solidifying his authority, and re-uniting all the Saint Thomas Christians, who had been split into Catholic and independent (Malankara) factions since the Coonan Cross Oath of 1653.His appeals were considered in Rome, where the Church was willing to grant him temporal but not spiritual authority over the Saint Thomas Christians.In the end, however, no satisfactory deal was ever made and the factions remained separate.