Malankara Orthodox Church welcomes PM Modi stand on undivided Church

Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III, head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, on Saturday welcomed the Prime Minister’s reported stand that the Malankara Church should remain undivided.

His remarks gain significance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently met Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Aphrem II, the supreme head of the Jacobite Syrian Church, which has a long-standing dispute with the Malankara Orthodox Church.

Mathews



was speaking at the memorial feast of Vattasseril Thirumeni held at the Old Seminary in Kottayam.

Reacting to the recent discussions held in Delhi, the Catholicos said the Supreme Court verdicts of 1958, 1995 and 2017 upheld the same principle regarding the unity of the Church.

He said that since the time of Vattasseril Thirumeni, the Malankara Church has consistently maintained the position that it should move forward as a united body.