It was a historic moment on May 6, 2001 as the Pope, His Holiness John Paul 2nd entered the Saint George's Patriarchal Cathedral at Bab Touma in Damascus and embraced the Prince Patriarch of the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch, His Holiness Ignatius Zakka, bringing to closure a Christological controversy and conflict between their two churches that lasted over 1,500 years. On that day I was one among the very few  blessed to be invited to witness it and  could kiss the hands of both Holy Fathers sitting side by side in front of  the Holy Sanctuary  of that ancient church.  This was the follow up of the Patriarch’s visit to Vatican in 1984 with the initial signing of a declaration by both the Holy Fathers regarding cooperation between their Churches in faith and sacraments. .   A Pope speaking from the Patriarchal Cathedral on that day was also the first time in fifteen hundred years.  The Pope exhorted   all the faithful on that day to pray with one mind and one heart, and he quoted the great Syrian Orthodox theologian and mystic Bar `Ebroyo’ who asked the believers to “destroy in the depth of their hearts the roots of enmity between Christians”.  The permission both the Pope and the Patriarch gave the faithful to receive sacraments   from either church when needed was a giant step in Church unity.
 
The first time I met our Holy Father was in 1981 during his first visit to America few months after the consecration as the Patriarch and the 122nd successor to St. Peter in the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch.  Then Syrian Orthodox Arch Bishop of North America, His Eminence Mor Athanasius Yeshu Samuel chose Chicago to officially welcome the new Patriarch to America.
It was Arch Bishop Mor Athanasius who had made arrangements for a young monk (Ramban)  Zakka in 1960 from the Middle east to come to America and pursue higher studies here. The Ramban was a brilliant student and by divine providence destined later to become the first western educated Patriarch of Antioch. He received degrees in   theology, philosophy, and masters in English language from American Universities. 
Mor Athanasius asked me to offer the formal felicitation to His Holiness and deliver the welcome address at the grand dinner reception attended by several bishops, priests, and members of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Protestant congregations.  It was a true ecumenical gathering which the Holy Father loved.
Mor Athanasius was well known and admired around the world as a scholar, linguist, writer, and above all for acquiring the Dead Sea Scrolls, the most ancient known biblical manuscript. .  The Holy Father in his younger years considered Mor Athanasius as his mentor and spiritual guide. Mor Athanasius had first visited Kerala with the Patriarch Saint Ignatius Elias (entombed in Manjinikara) in 1931 as his secretary, and had spent few years in India. He always loved Kerala, its people, and the Malayalee food.  Just like Mor Athanasius, Holy Father also had developed a special love and affection for the faithful from Kerala ever since his visit to Kerala with Patriarch Ignatius Ya’qub III in 1964.
After Mor Athanasius first introduced me to the Holy Father, I have received the affection and blessings of the Holy Father in abundance. I have visited the Patriarchate on few occasions and and gratefully remember the hospitality and love received from the Holy Father.
In one of my visits to Damascus on August 14, 1993, after the audience with the Holy Father in the morning, I was sitting in one of the empty pews of the Saint George Patriarchal Cathedral in the afternoon looking around the historicity and beauty of that ancient great church. Holy Father unexpectedly walked in to the church alone and he was about to go for prayer and meditation behind the veil in the Holy Sanctorium for an hour as he was preparing for the ordination of a bishop the next day. He called me to his side and told me that he was thinking of decorating me a Commander of the Church in the morning and later in the day he received also a request   from the American Diocesan Metropolitan HG Yeshu Mor Athanasius to decorate me. Holy Father decorated me the next day following the Eucharist service.
.In 2005 during the Silver Jubilee of the Patriarchal consecration of the Holy Father, I visited the Patriarchate again for a week and interviewed Holy Father for several hours for a biographical article I was writing for the ‘Festschrift’, a commemorative issue for the occasion published by St George Jacobite church of Chicago and edited by its then vicar Very Rev. Dr. Kuriakose Moolayil Corepiscopa. Holy Father gave permission to Rejimon Jacob from Chicago for tape-recording the interview.
Few months ago I tried to contact the Holy Father for a message for a biography I was writing on the 100th death anniversary of my great grandfather, Poothicote  Very Rev. Cherian Thomas Corepiscopa.   I was informed that Holy Father was in Europe for special medical treatment and was advised by his doctors not to talk over the phone. But his secretary conveyed my message to the Holy Father and in one week I received a letter with apostolic blessing and benediction for the book. Holy Father loved and cared for all he came across irrespective of their status..
HH Ignatius Zakka was the Patriarch of the Holy See of Antioch for 34 years, and only four other Patriarchs before him occupied the position for that long in history of the Church.  But more than the number of years, Holy Father Ignatius Zakka will be remembered for the contributions he made for Christian ecumenical unity among Christians for which he tirelessly worked for 50 years. In 1962 and 1963 he attended the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council sessions as an observer representing the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church. The discussion that was initiated  in 1962 came to fruition when both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches accepted that the  Chalcedonian schism of AD 451 that separated them  rose out of the differences in terminology and cultural differences of the period, and that there never was any fundamental difference in their faith. It was a historic agreement between a Pope and a Patriarch after 15 centuries and they declared that the schism of AD 451 has no relevance today. This has led to more cooperation and sharing in sacraments by faithful of these Churches.   Pope John Paul II and the Patriarch Ignatius Zakka continued their relentless pursuit for unity among the Christians as never before in history. Even before he became the Patriarch, as Bishop Mor Savariose  Zakka, he was a consultant on the Pontifical commission for the revision of of Oriental canon law of the Roman Catholic Church in 1978 and 1979.
 
 In 1995 HH the Patriarch was elected as the president of the world council of Churches and continued in that position for several years.  The work started by the Holy Father in 1965 when he was Bishop Savariose Zakka  with other bishops at the PAN Orthodox meet in Addis Ababa was another crowning achievement which brought the Greek and other Byzantine and Oriental Orthodox churches closer. Holy Father, as President of the World Council of Churches, opened productive communication with many major protestant denominations. Holy Father made history by attending and speaking at the Maramon convention of the Syrian Marthoma Church during one of his visits to Kerala.
 
Though the Holy Father became  God’s instrument in bringing unity and reconciliation of many the historic conflicts among  Roman Catholic, Byzantine Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Protestant Churches , it pained him that he could not resolve the conflict  between the competing factions of the Syrian Orthodox Church  in Kerala  where both   consider him as the  spiritual head of the Church,  remember and pray for him  in their Eucharist liturgy every Sunday, and according to both their written church constitutions , he is  the spiritual head of the Church .  But Holy Father knew that God’s calendar may be different from ours and unity and peace among his spiritual children in Malankara will materialize one day.  I personally know some of the honest, sincere, and prayerful approaches of the Holy Father took in the past to bring peace among his Malankara children.  But now as we mourn the earthly departure of our Holy Father we all loved, let us pray for his soul. We are confident that our Moran is presently with God and praying for all of us.