Archbishop Mor Severios Hawathe of Baghdad & Basra elected as Locum Tenens to the Patriarchal throne

Archbishop Mor Severius Jamil Hawa of Baghdad & Basra

Archbishop with the late Patriarch Ignatius Zakka Iwas

Prakash Varghese (OCP Delegate of UAE, Gulf and Levant Region)
OCP New Service- 27/3/14

Beirut: The Synod of the Syriac Orthodox Church which held on 26th of March 2014 held at St. Ephrem Cathedral in Beirut elected Archbishop Mor Severios Hawathe of Baghdad  & Basra as the Locum Tenens to the Patriarchal throne of Antioch and All East. The Synod sessions were presided by Catholicos Abune Baselios Thomas I of India who is also the Metropolitan Trustee of the Syriac Orthodox Church in India.

“As per Article 29 of the Constitution of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The locum tenens means “the placeholder” (in Arabic Qa`im Maqām, in colloquial Qaymaqām). The election of the locum tenens has to take place within seven (7) days by the majority vote of the bishops. The locum tenens is not permitted to leave the Patriarchate. He is not permitted to make any changes to the Patriarchate, nor can he ordain or take part in financial transactions (Article 32). His main function is to act as a placeholder and to convene a Synod to elect the Patriarch“.

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