Vatican
City, 2 September 2012 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office announced
this morning that from 4 to 6 September His Holiness Moran Baselios
Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian
Church, India, will visit Pope Francis. The meeting will form part of
the Catholicos' pastoral visit to orthodox faithful in Europe.
The
Malankara Orthodox Church is divided into two communities: the
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in full communion with the Orthodox
Syrian Patriarch of Antioch, and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
led by His Holiness Moran Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, (automous
orthodox Church). The Orthodox Syrian Church currently has over 2.5
million members in thirty dioceses, with more than 33 bishops and
1,700 priests.
Two
important meetings took place between Pope John Paul II and the
Catholicos Moran Mar Baselios Marthoma Mathews I, in Rome in 1983 and
in Kottayam in 1986; on the latter occasion the Mixed International
Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara
Orthodox Syrian Church was established. In 1990, the common
Christological Declaration was signed.
Since
1989 two parallel dialogues have taken place annually in Kerala,
southern India; one with each of the two communities. These dialogues
relate to questions on three main themes: the history of the Church
in India, ecclesiology, and common witness.
The
Catholicos Moran Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, as well as meeting
with the Holy Father on Thursday 5 September, will visit the tomb of
the Apostle Peter and will be received by the Pontifical Council for
the Promotion of Christian Unity.
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