Patriarch arrives in capital, holds talks with Chief Minister

Patriarch of Antioch and the supreme head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church Ignatius Mor Ignatius Aphrem II arrived in the capital city for the last leg of his Apostolic visit to the country on Saturday.

Patriarch of Antioch and the supreme head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church Ignatius Mor Ignatius Aphrem II arrived in the capital city for the last leg of his Apostolic visit to the country on Saturday.

The Pontiff led a delegation of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church to visit Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his official residence, the Cliff House where a banquet was hosted.

Appreciating the State government’s efforts in maintaining religious harmony in Kerala, the Patriarch reiterated the denomination’s demand to enact the proposed Malankara Church Act, mooted by the Kerala Law Reforms Commission headed by former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas.

According to sources, the delegation sought the government’s intervention in overcoming the impasse that prevails over funerals despite the passage of the Kerala Christian Cemeteries (Right to Burial of Corpse) Bill, 2020.

Later, the Patriarch was accorded reception upon his arrival at the Mascot Hotel. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Shashi Tharoor, MP, Kerala’s special representative in New Delhi K.V. Thomas, Anoop Jacob, V.K. Prasanth, MLAs, Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Binoy Viswam, Vicar General of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram Eugene Pereira and Palayam Imam V.P. Suhaib Moulavi were among those who received the Patriarch during his arrival.

Malankara Metropolitan Joseph Mor Gregorios, Jacobite Church media cell chairperson Kuriakose Mor Theophilose and others Bishops including Kuriakose Mor Dioscorus, Issac Mor Osthathios, Yeldho Mor Theethos, Geevarghese Mor Coorilos, Geevarghese Mor Stephanos, Mathews Mor Aphrem and Mor Augen Alkhoori Alkhas were also present on the occasion.

The Patriarch will lead the Holy Mass at the St. Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Simhasana Cathedral on Sunday. He will be ushered in a reception from Jacobs Junction prior to his arrival at the church.