Kochi: Joseph Mar Gregorios, Jacobite Church metropolitan trustee and the fourth-generation descendant of Parumala Thirumeni, has been named the new Catholicos of the Jacobite Church.

The announcement was made by the Patriarch of Antioch and head of the universal Syrian Orthodox Church, Ignatius Aphrem II, during Holy Mass at St. George's Monastery, Malekurish. Joseph Mar Gregorios succeeds Catholicos Baselios Thomas I, who passed away recently.

Having served as the Metropolitan of the Kochi Diocese for the past 30 years, the 64-year-old is a parishioner of the Mulanthuruthy Marthoman Jacobite Syrian Cathedral and a native of Perumpally.