A new metropolitan trustee for the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church will be elected in three months.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the synod of bishops under the aegis of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Ignatius Aphrem II at the Patriarchal Centre, Puthencruz, on Saturday.
The metropolitan trustee is being elected in place of Catholicos Baselios Thomas I, who has expressed his wish to step down from the post in view of his advancing age.
However, he will continue to be the head of the Jacobite faction of the Malankara Church as wished by the Patriarch, said Kuriakose Mar Theophilos, media cell chairman, at a press conference.
The arrangements for the election will be overseen by a three-member Metropolitan Trustee Committee comprising Thomas Mar Themotheos, Joseph Mar Gregorios, and Abraham Mar Severios.
The committee will convene the Malankara association and decide on the modus operandi for the conduct of the election. Prior to the election, a convener will be elected to head the three-member committee, said Bishop Theophilos.
To take back Cleemis
The synod also decided to take back Bishop Kuriakos Mar Cleemis, who had been suspended from the Church.
Mar Cleemis was the head of the Idukki diocese when he was suspended by the synod in 2012. His future status in the Church will be decided later.
In the meanwhile, the Patriarch expressed his solidarity with the suffering daughters and sons of the Jacobite Church in Kerala. He was cited as saying at the Synod of Bishops that even if there was only one member of the Jacobite Church in Malankara, he would stand by the believer. He is scheduled to leave Kochi on Monday.
The Patriarch is reported to have reiterated that court verdicts could not settle the disputes between the two factions of the Malankara Church.