28.07.2021
Archbishop Expresses Condolences Following Death of the Catholicos of the East
Earlier this month, Archbishop Michael Jackson joined church leaders worldwide in expressing condolences with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church following the death of their primate His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the Catholicos of the East.
The Catholicos passed away in the early hours of July 12. He was the 91st Catholicos of the East, and at 74 years of age, had been undergoing treatment over the past two years. His funeral service was held at the Catholicate Palace chapel in Devalokam, the headquarters of the Church in Kottayam, Kerala, on July 13.
Archbishop Jackson epxressed his personal condolences and those of his diocese and the Church of Ireland to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, in India and worldwide on the loss of the Catholicos.
“We honour and respect the members of The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Ireland and thank them for their contribution to both faith and ecumenism in our country,” the Archbishop said in a letter to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He visited the Church, which is also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, in Kerala in the summer of 2019 and was granted an audience by the Catholicos.
“We all remember his commitment to God and the church, to her people and priests, and to the cause of ecumenism.
It was my tremendous pleasure and privilege to have an audience with His Holiness when I visited Kottayam. It is an experience I will never forget,” he said.