TO HIS EMINENCE YUHANON MAR DIASCOROS

Secretary of the Holy Synod
of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

12 July 2021

 

It was with deep sadness that I have learned of the passing away after a long illness of His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Personally and on behalf of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, I would like to express our deepest sympathy and closeness in prayer to the episcopate, clergy and faithful of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church for the loss of their spiritual father.

The Pontifical Council calls to mind with sentiments of esteem the commitment of His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II to promote the ecumenical relations of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, especially with the Catholic Church. I recall with particular gratitude the meeting of His Holiness with Pope Francis on September 2013, and also the generous hospitality offered in February 2014 at the Samanvaya Retreat Centre in Pampakuda, Kerala, to the eleventh meeting of the International Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. The yearly sessions in Kerala of the Joint International Commission for Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church were also auspicious opportunity for the delegation of our Pontifical Council, led by His Excellency Bishop Brian Farrell, to appreciate the kindness and spiritual depth of His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II.

 We set our eyes to the glory of Jesus Christ, whose victory over death is our redemption and we make ours the words of the psalmist: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul…  and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long” (Ps 23:1-2; 6).

Please accept, Your Eminence, this expression of our fraternal communion and prayerful solidarity.

 

Requiescat in pace

 

 

Kurt Cardinal Koch
President