Kochi, Nov 2 (PTI) The mortal remains of Catholicos Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas-I, the spiritual leader of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, were laid to rest with state honours at the Mar Athanasius Cathedral in the Patriarchal Centre, the headquarters of the Jacobite Church in Puthencruz, on Saturday.
The funeral service was led by Jacobite Church metropolitan trustee Mar Joseph Gregorios. Archbishops from the US and UK attended the funeral as representatives of Ignatius Aphrem II, the Patriarch of Antioch, and co-celebrated alongside other Metropolitans of the Jacobite Church.
The proceedings began with a funeral mass in the morning, and the mortal remains were displayed for the public to pay their respects until 3 PM, followed by concluding prayers. Several prominent figures and leaders from various political parties, including Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, paid their last respects to the Catholicos at the Patriarchal Centre before his remains were laid to rest around 5.40 PM.
Union Minister Suresh Gopi and Malayalam actor Mammootty were among the hundreds who turned up in the morning to pay homage to the Catholicos, according to visuals on TV channels.
During the ceremony, a condolence message from the Patriarch of Antioch was read, and V N Vasavan, the Kerala Minister for Co-operation and Devaswom, delivered a message on behalf of the state government.
Anticipating large crowds, traffic regulations were implemented on the Puthencruz-Kolenchery stretch of the Kochi-Madurai national highway, according to police.
On Friday, thousands gathered in Kothamangalam to bid a heartfelt farewell to the Catholicos, who passed away on October 31, at 5.21 PM in a private hospital in Kochi after a prolonged illness. He was 95. That night, his remains were taken to the Mar Thoma Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Cheriyapally in Kothamangalam, where the public paid their last respects.
Following the funeral mass, a procession was held on Friday morning to Kothamangalam Valiya Palli. His remains were then transported to the Patriarchal Centre in Puthencruz to allow more people to pay homage, according to church sources.
The Catholicos had guided the church’s followers through a challenging period following a Supreme Court ruling that stripped the Jacobite faction of control over its churches.
Amid the dispute between the Jacobite and Orthodox factions of the Malankara Church, he led the former’s faction after they lost control of their churches and properties due to the 2017 Supreme Court verdict, which ruled that the 1,100 parishes and their churches under the Malankara Church should be controlled by the Orthodox faction, in accordance with the 1934 Malankara Church guidelines.
Known as C M Thomas, he was born into the Cheruvillil family of Vadayambadi, Puthencruz, on July 22, 1929. He was enthroned on July 26, 2002, by Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Zakka I I in a ceremony held in Damascus, Syria. In 2019, he stepped down from his administrative duties and resigned from the role of Metropolitan Trustee. Although he offered to retire from both positions due to his old age, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II requested that he continue serving as Catholicos.
He had been hospitalised for several months prior to his passing on Thursday evening. In 1959, he was appointed as the vicar of St Peter’s Church in Puthencruz. He later served churches in Vellathooval, Kizhumuri, Fort Kochi, Valamboor, Kolkata, and Thrissur. He also served as the chief organiser of the North Indian mission in Bhilai during the 1970s and as the secretary of the Pourasthaya Suvishesha Samajam in 1974. He was well-known as a great revivalist preacher.
In January 1974, Fr Thomas was elected to the episcopate by the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Christian Association convened at Karingachira St George Church and was consecrated as Metropolitan with the title Mor Dionysius by Mor Ignatius Ya’qub-III on February 24, 1974, in Damascus, Syria. He was entrusted with the charge of the Angamali diocese, the largest of all the Syrian Orthodox dioceses. PTI HMP SSK KH
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