India: Supreme head of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church passes away

His Holiness Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East and primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

Parumala - A condolence meeting will be held at the Dubai cathedral on Friday at 10am.

Issac John

Published: Mon 12 Jul 2021, 9:54 AM

Last updated: Mon 12 Jul 2021, 10:28 AM

The supreme head of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, His Holiness Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East and primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, passed away at 2:35am on Monday. He was 74.

The metropolitan, who was the 91st Catholicos of the East, was under treatment at St Gregorios Medical Mission Hospital in Parumala.

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The funeral services will be held on Tuesday at the Catholicate Palace chapel in Devalokam in Kottayam district from 3pm.

The Catholicos had met with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of Dubai and Ruler of Dubai, and other eminent leaders of the country during his visits to the UAE.

In the UAE, where the church has eight congregations, and other GCC countries, special memorial services will be held at all Orthodox Syrian churches. The church, headquartered in Kottayam, Kerala, has parishes across the world comprising nearly three million members.

In Dubai, one of the largest overseas parishes of the church, holy masses will be held at the St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral for nine days along with Dhoopa Prarthana (incense prayer) for 40 days, the vicar of the church Fr. Binish Babu said.

A condolence meeting will be held at the Dubai cathedral on Friday at 10am.

“The Catholicos had endeared himself to the public with his piousness and simplicity. He was a great source of support to the destitute and the poor for whom he implemented many service schemes. A great humanitarian, he was a champion of social justice and equality,” Fr. Binish said.

Assistant vicar of the Dubai cathedral, Fr. Sibu Thomas, said the metropolitan would be remembered as a great reformer. “The Catholicos departed from age-old traditions of the church to allow women equal rights in the administration of the church and the community. Indeed, the prelate went a step ahead in 2011by granting women voting rights along with their male counterparts in all parishes of the church,” said Fr. Sibu.

Paulose II, who was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan on November 1, 2010, had been ailing for quite some time. He was under treatment ever since he was diagnosed with cancer in January 2020. Though he had recovered from Covid for which he was tested positive in February, he was on continued treatment for pneumonia. issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com