(ZENIT News / Rome, 09.12.2023).- On the morning of Sunday, September 10, the leader of a Christian community not in communion with the Pope celebrated Mass in the Patriarchal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
The leader of the Syro-Malabar Orthodox communion, Baselios Marthoma Mathews III, accompanied by a delegation from the same Christian community, arrived at the basilica, where they were welcomed. The delegation also paused to pray at the tomb of the apostle St. Paul.
The Mass was celebrated in one of the side chapels of the basilica since the Syro-Malabar Orthodox community in Rome is not numerically significant.
This marks the third occasion when a community not in communion with the Pope has celebrated in a major Roman basilica. First, it was the Anglicans (who lack apostolic succession and valid Mass) in mid-April 2023 at St. John Lateran; subsequently, the Coptic Orthodox (who maintain the validity of apostolic succession and Mass, though not in communion with the Pope) at the end of April 2023, also at St. John Lateran. This is the third occasion where a Catholic church has been made available as an ecumenical gesture.
A day later, the Syro-Malankar Orthodox leader was received in audience by the Pope at the Vatican. Mutual speeches were followed by a common prayer in Pope Francis’s private chapel.
