by Rajive Cherian | May 05,2012 | JORDAN TIMES

AMMAN — Sleeba Kattumangattu Cor-Episcopa, affectionately dubbed “Abunaan Sleeba” or “Father Sleeba”, has been shepherding flocks of religious tourists to the region for the past two decades.

After organising more than 1,000 tours of the holy land, Sleeba told The Jordan Times in a recent interview, he has lost count of the number of pilgrims he has served but is sure they number well into the thousands.

The nine-day trip Sleeba leads begins in Jordan, travels through the Palestinian territories to Israel, and ends in Egypt. The tour used to be 11 days long and include Syria, he said, but needed to be revised due to the ongoing unrest there.

The initial idea of arranging holy land trips came to him in the late 1980s when he was stationed in Oman as the vicar in the Syrian Orthodox Church and the opportunity arose for him to visit Jordan, Jerusalem and Syria.

“During the late 1980s, pilgrims were travelling from India to the holy land but they were few and far between. However, in 1991 I presented the idea of organised tours to other church leaders of various denominations in Kerala and was met with instant support and encouragement. It was a success,” said Sleeba, who hails from the small town Mulanthuruthy in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

“Although the groups consist primarily of Christians from all over India and Asian expatriates in the Gulf region, Muslims, Hindus and people of other faiths also join the journey,” he continued, emphasising the secular nature of his endeavour, which he calls “a humble effort to promote inter-religious cooperation”.

Awaiting the arrival of his latest group of 50 to 150 tourists in Amman last week, Sleeba said: ”Although the tour includes four countries in its itinerary, Jordan, due to its biblical name and renowned hospitality, holds a special appeal for tourists who spend a day or two in the Kingdom, depending on the package.”

When questioned about his role as both priest and tour operator, Sleeba said: “Perhaps if I had had the entrepreneurial expertise and business savvy required in this field, I would have avoided a great deal of financial losses.”

However, two decades of diverse experience in this field has made him India’s premier holy land tour operator.

As the time draws near for the arrival of the latest religious tourists, Sleeba is currently in the final stages of preparations to ensure their comfort and well-being, and getting himself ready to guide a new group through the holy land for another nine days.