KOCHI: Universal Syrian Orthodox Church Head Patriarch Aphrem II will arrive in Kochi on Friday, giving hope that he may intervene in the dispute between Jacobite Church and the Indian Orthodox Church. The Supreme Head, who will arrive at the Nedumbassery airport at 9 am, will be accompanied by some of the Metropolitans from Lebanon.
“Out of 32 Bishops in Jacobite Church, 18 are under the direct control of Antiochean Patriarch. These Bishops have also requested the Patriarch to visit Kerala,” said a statement by Fr Varghese Kallapara, general convenor of Quest 4 Peace.
Meanwhile, the local head of Jacobite Church Catholicos Baselios Thomas I resigned from the posts of Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan Trustee. The Patriarch accepted the resignation and appointed a three-member senior Bishops’ council to the church office till Patriarch’s visit on Friday and the meeting of Holy Local Synod and Church official bodies to be scheduled on Saturday at Puthencruz Patriarchal Church centre in the presence of the Patriarch.