The Synod of the Jacobite Church on Wednesday used secret ballot to elect Joseph Mor Gregorios to the position of Metropolitan trustee.
However, the election process is far from complete as the general body of the Malankara Association takes the final call on the new Metropolitan before the name gets endorsed by the Patriarch of Antioch, Iganatius Aphrem II.
Church sources said that Mor Gregorios polled 12 votes while the other two contenders, Mor Themotheos and Mor Severios secured four and two votes respectively. In all, 19 Metropolitans attended the Synod and one vote was invalid. Seven Metropolitans were absent ostensibly because they were abroad.
It was at the suggestion of Church organisations that the secret ballot root was chosen to elect the new Metropolitan trustee. While this can be contested in the Malankara Association, it is assumed that the name would be accepted, said a Church official.
The final election of the Metropolitan trustee will most likely happen on August 28 when the Malankara Association general body meets. The position of the Metropolitan trustee was left vacant after the head of the Jacobite Church in India, Baselios Thomas I, told the Patriarch of Antioch his desire to step down from all positions.
The Jacobite Church is going through a bad patch following the recent Supreme Court directive to the State to implement its order on rights over churches where both Orthodox and Jacobite factions claim authority.
