KOCHI: The Patriarchal Day celebrations and Faith Declaration Meet of the Jacobite Syrian Church were held on Sunday with a call to keep the flame of Antioch burning till the church and coming generations exist.
The meeting, which saw the participation of thousands of Jacobites at the JLN Stadium, Kaloor, also called for the setting up of separate courts to decide on religious matters. Civil, criminal courts are not equipped to deal with disagreements and rifts between various religious sects.
The call for separate courts follows the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the petitions filed by Jacobites seeking to review the apex court’s July 3, 2017 order, giving the Orthodox Church control over more than 1,100 parishes and their churches.
The Jacobite Syrian Church also decided not to participate in ecumenical councils where the representatives of the Orthodox faction participate. Earlier, the joint procession from Puthencruz reached JLN Ground, Kaloor, at 5 pm and Catholicos Baselios Thomas I hoisted the flag.Marthoma Syrian Church head Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan was the chief guest. Catholicos Baselios Thomas I presided over the meeting.
Mor Georges Koureih, Archbishop of Luxembourg, inaugurated the conference. The torch procession from Thiruvananthapuram, portrait procession from Kunnamkulam and the flag procession from Murikkumthotty converged at the Patriarchal Centre in Puthencruz at 3 pm on Saturday.