Kochi: The Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church on Wednesday unanimously elected Joseph Mar Gregorios, former secretary of its synod, as metropolitan trustee of the Church. The election was held at the convention of the Jacobite Sy-rian Christian Associat-ion at the Patriarchal Centre at Puthenkurisu, which was attended by nearly 3,000 representatives belonging to 1,400 parishes as decided by the synod three months ago. The decision was received with thunderous applause by the faithful who assembled at the centre. The election was held after Cathiolicos Baselios Thomas-I expressed his inability to carry out his duties as Catholicos and metropolitan trustee due to his advanced age.
The Catholicos offered to step down from both positions, but Ignatius Aphrem-III, Patriarch of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, rejected the request. The synod had decided on May 25 that the election will be held within three months to elect a new metropolitan trustee.
Mar Gregorios, who spoke to the media after the election, appealed to the Orthodox faction to give up what he termed as its “unjust behaviour” on the issue of burial of the dead at disputed churches.
He cited several instances when there were obstacles to the burial of the dead from the Jacobite faction in the past. “This is unthinkable in a state like Kerala,” he said. He also blamed the district administration and police authorities for the incidents.
Stating that there would be no compromise on the authority of the Patriarch of Antioch, he iterated that the Jacobite Church would overcome the problems that have cropped up in the wake of the July 27 Supreme Court order.
Catholicos Baselios Thomas-I said the Orthodox group had been resorting to an “uncalled for” aggression in resolving the differences between the two factions. The Orthodox group has refused to cooperate with the state government, he pointed out. Metropolitan Kuriakose Mar Theophelos, media cell chairman Moncy Vavachan and several other senior members of the Church were present on the occasion.
