H.B. Baselios Thomas I's Damascus Trip in Trouble

KOCHI, 23rd March 2014: The proposed journey of Baselios Thomas I Catholicos of the Antiochian Syrian Orthodox Church in India (Catholicos of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church under the patriarch of Antioch) to Damascus to attend the funeral services of Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, the patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch, is in trouble with the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Kolenchery (India), rejecting the application to release the passport of the prelate, against whom the court had earlier issued an arrest warrant.

“We are looking into the matter. We hope the legal hurdle could be cleared on Monday. If so, the Antiochian Catholicos will leave for Damascus on Tuesday. The case against the Catholicos was filed by a group of rebels within the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church raising allegations,” Metropolitan Joseph Mar Gregorios said. Patriarch Zakka I passed away in Germany on Friday and the funeral is scheduled to be held in Damascus on March 28.