Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was among political and religious leaders in Kerala to condemn a suicide bomb attack on the head of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Syria.
Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II heads the Syrian Churches worldwide, including the Jacobite Church in Kerala, southern India.
The attack occurred June 19 when the patriarch was leading a prayer to commemorate the massacre of Christians over a century ago in northeast Syria.
Three people were killed when Assyrian forces stopped the suicide bomber who tried to enter the Assyrian genocide commemoration event in the al-Wusta district of Qamishle, Assyrian International News Agency reported.
The event commemorated the deaths of tens of thousands of Christians by the Ottoman army starting in 1915 in what is known as the Sayfo (Sword) massacre.
The bomber detonated his bomb outside the hall, killing himself and three members of the Assyrian Sutoro security forces and wounding five.
“It is a relief to hear that the religious head was not injured,” the Kerala chief minister said in a statement on June 20.
Vijayan said the people of his state hared the concern of all those who love and respect the patriarch.
The 51-year-old patriarch had visited Kerala in September 2015.
Vijayan said the incident was “extremely painful.”
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala stated that the incident has shocked the conscience of people the world over as the patriarch is a spokesperson of peace and tranquility.
“I am glad that the patriarch escaped a bid on his life. I wish him a long life,” he added.
Expressing shock over the attack, Baselious Thomas I, Catholicos of the Syrian Orthodox Church in India, termed the incident as very painful.
Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church, was among the religious leaders who condemned the attack.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president V M Sudheeran said the attack on the patriarch, who stood for peace and harmony, was condemnable.
It was a matter of relief and happiness that he was not injured in the incident, he added.