Bishop hopes world will find peace next year
Bishop Kuriakkose Mar Juliyos is on a visit to the capital from St Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church in Syria. Speaking to Gulf News yesterday, he expressed the hope that the Palestinian issue would be resolved, the world would find perfect peace, that developed countries would aid under-developed countries and the rich would help the poor next year.
Bishop Kuriakkose Mar Juliyos is on a visit to the capital from St Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church in Syria. Speaking to Gulf News yesterday, he expressed the hope that the Palestinian issue would be resolved, the world would find perfect peace, that developed countries would aid under-developed countries and the rich would help the poor next year.
His schedule here includes conducting this year's Christmas and New Year services at St. Andrew's Church. Bishop Juliyos said that he descends from a family of many priests. He was appointed by the church, based in Damascus, Syria, to hold such services worldwide.
"I come from Kerala in India, where the church has a strong following of three million in India alone, another 200,000 in Syria and huge numbers all over the world," he said. He said that his church is the oldest in the world, and was founded by St Peter in AD 37.
"It was founded in the old city of Antioch, which used to be the capital of Syria and is now part of Turkey. We still have a very strong following in Istanbul," he noted. He said that a church is being built in Dubai, which has a huge number of Syrian and Indian followers.
