Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Visits Capistrano Mission

Standing in the courtyard of Mission San Juan Capistrano Friday evening, 21-year-old Michael Touma could hardly contain his excitement.

“This is the day I’ve been waiting for all of my life,” said Touma, who soon would have a chance to walk alongside His Holiness Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka I, supreme head of the Syrian Orthodox Church.

The patriarch, spiritual leader of the Syrian branch of the Orthodox church, was a long way from his home in Damascus Friday. As part of the final leg of a monthlong Southland tour of various parishes of his own faith and others, he toured Mission San Juan Capistrano and heard about its 200-year history.

In the church leader’s country, many of the monasteries are well over 1,000 years old.

“I am very much aware that, when we speak of 200 years, that in your country is yesterday,” said mission tour guide and history expert Bob Dunn.

The church leader wore a black gown and cap and carried a black staff. The 61-year-old patriarch in his Orthodox denomination is similarly ranked to the Pope among Roman Catholics. There are 3 million members of the Syrian Orthodox church worldwide with 28 churches in the United States and Canada and roughly 150 Syrian Orthodox families in Orange County.

“This is our spiritual father,” said Linda Malki of Anaheim, who serves as treasurer of St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church of Orange County in Santa Ana. The church arranged the mission tour.

The patriarch’s visit was his first to a California mission and was the first known visit to Catholic-founded Mission San Juan Capistrano by an Orthodox patriarch, said Msgr. Paul Martin, the mission pastor.

“This an historical experience for both of us,” Martin said.

The Syrian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church split 15 centuries ago because of theological disagreements over the nature of Christ. Of late, though, the patriarch and Pope John Paul II have been on friendly terms. In 1984, the two men signed an historic agreement allowing their members to take Holy Communion in either church.

In fact, the patriarch’s initial travel plans this month called for him to fly next week from Southern California to Lebanon to meet with the Pope and patriarchs of other Orthodox denominations. The Pope has since had to cancel.

Touring the mission Friday, the church leader said, “When I enter any Roman Catholic Church, I feel it is my church. It is useful for the East and West to meet together.”

Iraq-born, the patriarch speaks perfect English, as well as Aramaic, the language used in the Syrian Orthodox Church.

As the mission tour guide ushered him into Serra Chapel, the patriarch knelt at the altar and then recited the Lord’s Prayer--in Aramaic.

Martin, who knows it only in English and Latin, remained silent.

But afterward, he said, “It’s the prayer that unites us all. It was a sign of unity.”