Head of one of world’s oldest churches dies, funeral to be streamed live

PETALING JAYA: Most Rev Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan, the supreme head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Church in India, one of the oldest churches in the world, passed away Sunday (Oct 18). He was 89.

Thirumeni, as bishops are addressed in Malayalam, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in in Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta for pancreatic cancer the last two weeks.

His deputy, Dr Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, the Suffragan Metropolitan, was among those present when he passed away at 2.38am (IST or 5.08am Malaysian time) Sunday at the Believers Church Medical College Hospital.

The last rites will be held at the church headquarters in Thiruvalla at 3pm (IST or 5.30pm Malaysian time). Thirumeni will be lowered into a vertical concrete grave, seated in a chair. Bishops of the Mar Thoma Church are buried in this manner.

Hundreds of representatives of Christian organisations and laypeople have been paying their last respects from Sunday to the Metropolitan, who was considered a doyen among Asian ecclesiastical and ecumenical leaders.

Among them was a physically challenged young man who gave thanks to the bishop who always encouraged him to keep trying, despite the challenges that life threw his way.

Born PT Joseph on June 27,1931, Rev Joseph was consecrated as the 21st head of the Kerala-based Mar Thoma Church on Oct 2,2007.

The Metropolitan, whose roots goes back to Abraham Malpan, one of the reformers of the early Malankara Church, was ordained a priest in 1957. He pursued a Master of Divinity and Master of Sacred Theology in England.

The Protestant Episcopal Seminary in the United States later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. In 1975, Rev Joseph was ordained as a bishop and given the episcopal title Joseph Mar Irenaeus.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Kerala state chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan were quick to express condolences to the Mar Thoma Church.

“His Grace the Most Rev. Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan was a remarkable personality who served humanity and worked hard to improve the lives the poor and downtrodden. He was blessed with abundance of empathy and humility. His noble ideals will always be remembered. RIP, ” Modi tweeted.

Pinarayi said, “All through his life, Joseph Mar Thoma charted a different path for the upliftment and empowerment of the backward sections of the society.

“The work he has done to rehabilitate the children of Mumbai’s red street and the steps he has taken to bring the transgender community to the mainstream will be remembered," added the Chief Minister.

‘Mar Thoma’ is Aramaic for Saint Thomas and according to the traditions of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, St Thomas the Apostle was believed to have landed in Cranganore near Cochin, an important port on the Malabar Coast, in AD 52 and began evangelising.

When the Indian diaspora began its journey in the last century, the St Thomas Christians, also known as Marthomites, made their way to Europe, West Asia (Middle East), North America, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Church statistics state that it has one million members around the world. There are currently between 1,800 and 2,000 Marthomites in Malaysia.

Rev Joseph, who was also the bishop for the Malaysia-Singapore-Australia-New Zealand diocese, was close to several Marthomites in the region. He always made it a point to visit those who were with him at Union Christian College in Alwaye or his old neighbours from Kerala.

During his last visit to Malaysia last December for the Mar Thoma Youth Camp, he spent time with several elderly parishioners and friends who were in the hospital.

Thirumeni was very active in India as well as regional and international Christian organisations. Apart from the numerous groups he was responsible for, he was also the chief coordinator of Maramon convention, one of the largest Christian conventions in Asia, held at Maramon in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district.

Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, the general secretary of the Council of Churches Malaysia (CCM), said the Metropolitan was “a prominent ecumenical leader in India and Asia”.

“He was also a personal friend to many of the church leaders in our country, past and present. May He rest eternally in God's Kingdom.”

Rev Hermen, who had the experience of working with him when Thirumeni was president of the Council of Churches of Asia (CCA) from 2000 to 2005, said the Metropolitan always visited CCM every time he was in Malaysia to fulfil his Episcopalian duties.

Several CCM members sent their condolences and shared their positive experience of working with Thirumeni in CCA.

“Throughout the many years of his close association and involvement in the Asian and global ecumenical movement, he demonstrated his leadership in various international ecumenical events, and those have been deeply appreciated and valued by the ecclesial and ecumenical communities, ” said CCA general secretary Dr Mathews George Chunakara.

Readers can follow the funeral service at https://marthoma.in/news/funeral-live-day-2-19-10-2020/.