Pope to meet with Catholicos of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India

By Deborah Castellano Lubov

The Supreme Head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, Catholicos of the East and Metropolitan, will visit Pope Francis on 11 September 2023, according to the Holy See Press Office on Friday.

After the private meeting with the Holy Father, His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Mathews III will visit the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

On the day prior to the encounter with the Pope, the Catholicos will celebrate a Eucharistic Liturgy at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for the faithful of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church community living in Rome.

This visit on Monday will be the first official meeting in the Vatican of the Catholicos, elected in 2021, on the 10th anniversary of the visit of his predecessor, His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II.

It also falls on the 40th anniversary of the first visit to Rome of a Catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India.