The Hindu : Kerala News : Patriarch leaves for Delhi

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Wednesday, Sep 29, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Patriarch leaves for Delhi

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, SEPT. 28. The Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, left for New Delhi on Tuesday morning after his Kerala visit. The Patriarch will be in Delhi for three days, a press release said here today.

The Catholicos, Baselius Thomas I, Joseph Mar Gregorios, Synod secretary of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, and T.M. Jacob, MLA, were at the Cochin International Airport to see him off.

He was accompanied by Baselius Thomas I and four other Metropolitans of the Church. The Patriarch, who will be State guest of the Delhi Government, will celebrate the holy Eucharist at the St. Peter's cathedral there on Wednesday.

He will meet the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and other political leaders in Delhi. He will return to Damascus on September 30.

The Patriarch was in Kerala for a week and attended a host of ecclesiastical functions. His visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of his enthronement as head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church. The jubilee celebrations were formally inaugurated at the Marine Drive in Kochi.

Protest against attack

The Jacobite Church has expressed its shock over the attack on Missionaries of Charity nuns in Kozhikode last Saturday. Baselius Thomas I told presspersons at the airport that the Church strongly protested against the attack.

The Association of the Church held at Mulanthuruthy, near here, on Monday adopted a resolution expressing shock at the incident, he said.

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