The Supreme head of the Syriac Orthodox Church anointed the new leader of their Church in India during a solemn ceremony in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, on Mar. 25. Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch of Syriac Orthodox Church, led the special ceremony in St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Cathedral to anoint Joseph Mor Gregorios as Catho-licos, the head of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church in India. Catholicos is the second-highest title in the Church after Patriarch. Gregorios has now assumed the title of Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Joseph I. His elevation follows the death of Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I, who was known for strong leadership and connection with people from all walks of life. Dignitaries, including ministers from the federal and provincial governments of Kerala state in southern India, the home state of the Catholicos, attended the special ceremony in Lebanon. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the dignitaries who expressed their happiness over Gregorios’ elevation. In a mess-age sent through an emissary, Modi said, “In various fields of the Church, the Catholicos has shown remarkable excellence.” He wished “the Jacobite Syrian Church continued progress under his leadership.” In his congratu-latory message, Major Abp Raphael Thattil, the head of India-based Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church, said that the “Catholi-cos’ spiritual leadership will be a blessing for the Jacobite Church and society at large.” Thattil also expressed the hope that the Catholicos will work towards the progress and welfare of the Christian community globally.”

The Indian government has slammed the US government’s religious freedom watchdog after its latest report said faith freedom is seriously shrinking in India. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) should be called “an entity of concern” because of its “efforts to undermine India’s standing as a beacon of democracy,” a federal government official told media on March 26 in New Delhi. Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of External Affairs, made this statement the day after the US watchdog released its report. The report urged the US government to designate India as a “country of particular concern” due to its engagement in and tolerance of systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act. The report also urged the US to impose “targeted sanctions” on entities such as India’s foreign intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), for “their culpability in serious violations of religious freedom.” India dismissed the report as “biased and politically motivated” and said USCIRF was misrepresenting “isolated incidents and cast aspersions on India’s vibrant multicultural society.” The US report said India “increasingly enforced sectarian policies seeking to establish India as an overtly Hindu state, in contrast with the secular principles of the constitution” during the past 10 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power more than 10 years ago in 2014 and won the next two elections in 2019 and 2024, leading his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on the promise of prioritizing Hindu interests. The report accused top BJP leaders of engaging in “hateful rhetoric and disinformation against Muslims and other religious minorities to gather political support” ahead of the general elections in 2024. “Such rhetoric fueled attacks on religious minorities that continued after the election, including vigilante violence, targeted and arbitrary killings, and demolition of property and places of worship”, it said.