Patriarch of Antioch and head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church Ignatius Aphrem II has appealed to the Orthodox faction of the Malankara Church to be in communion with him and to accept him as head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church in keeping with a decision of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church synod.
In a letter to Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolian Baselios Paulose II on September 27, the Patriarch said he was disappointed that the Orthodox faction had not accepted a call for talks on settlement of issues in the true spirit of the Supreme Court verdict on July 3, 2017.
“We would like to bring to your notice that the 2017 judgment has found that the Patriarch of Antioch appointed by the Universal Synod has to be accepted by the Malankara Church,” the letter said.
‘No legal validity’
The question of the Patriarch not being recognised by the Orthodox Church did not have any legal validity any more. The Patriarch said his stand was in keeping with the 1958 and 1995 rulings of the apex court of India.
It is, therefore, “abundantly clear” that all spiritual authority of the Jacobite Syrian Church (Malankara Church) in India should come from the Patriarch of Antioch, the letter added. “The Malankara Church cannot exist or be contemplated without being in communion with the Patriarch of Antioch appointed by the Universal Synod. As you are aware, we were appointed as Patriarch of Antioch by the Universal Synod in 2014 and are functioning as such since then,” the letter said.
He appealed to the Orthodox faction that in the interest of lasting peace in the Church in India, it was necessary that the decisions taken by the Orthodox synod in 1975 cutting off all connection with the Patriarch be withdrawn.
