Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East and primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, passed away at 2:35 am on Monday. His Grace Dr Joseph Mar Dionysius Metropolitan, along with all the priests, office-bearers and believers of the Diocese of Calcutta, office-bearers of St. Thomas Mission Bhilai and MGM Group of institutions expressed heartfelt condolences and prayers for the Holy Father. Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu, in a Tweet, said “deeply grieved by the sad demise May his sould rest in peace.” His Holines was the 91st reigning Catholicos of the East. The funeral services will be held on Tuesday at the Catholicate Palace chapel in Devalokam in Kottayam, Kerala from 3 pm. A much-loved personality, Bava Thirumeni, as His Holiness was known to all, was a great source of support to the destitute and the poor for whom he executed many a service scheme. His Holiness had given the ancestral property for building houses for the homeless.

 

A great humanitarian, the Catholicos was a votary of social justice and equality. This was amply evident when the Malankara Metropolitan broke age-old traditions by allowing women equal participation in the administration of the church and the community too. His Holiness went a step ahead when in 2011 by granting them voting rights along with their male counterparts in all parishes of the Church. The Catholicos was a symbol of change with his contemporary moves and courage of conviction. The adorable Primate had also authored 5 enlightening books. His Holiness Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan on the Holy Apostolic See of St. Thomas on 1 November 2010. His Holiness was ordained as a Priest in 1973. The Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Syrian Church was founded by St.Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, who came to India in A D 52. The Church now consists of about 2.5 million members, who are spread all over the world, though the majority reside in Kerala in South West India.

 

The Headquarters of the Diocese of Calcutta ( one of the Dioceses of Indian Orthodox Church) and St. Thomas Mission at Bhilai was blessed by three Apostolic Visits of His Holiness, who was also the patron of M G M group of institutions, which consists of 32 schools and three colleges including St. Thomas College Bhilai, Christian College of Engineering and Technology, Bhilai, MGM Sr. Sec. School Bhilai, MGM Public School Bhilai, Mar Baselios Vidhya Bhava Bhilai, MGM H S S, Gayatri Nagar Raipur, MGM Model School Naya Raipur. MGM Public School Tatibandh, Raipur, MGM Public School Rajnandgaon, MGM Public School Bilaspur, MGM H.S.S, Bhartiya Nagar Bilaspur, MGM H.S.S, Balco Korba, MGM School Kamilini Korba, MGM H.S.S Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh apart from those in Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.