Order of the Imitation of Christ Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios of Trivandrum, 78, who led the 350,000-member Syro-Malankara Church for four decades, died of cancer here Oct. 10.
Archbishop Gregorios, 78, died of bone cancer in Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala state, southern India. He had undergone surgery Sept. 26 to remove a blockage in his large intestine.
“India lost a great humanist, who loved and served people beyond the narrow limitations of caste and creed,” Indian Vice President K.R. Narayanan said in a condolence message.
Catholic Bishops´ Conference of India (CBCI) president Archbishop Joseph Powathil of Changanacherry said the Indian Church lost a great leader. Archbishop Gregorios had served as CBCI president in 1989-91.
In a message from Rome, where he is attending the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Powathil recalled that the late archbishop gave a Christian meaning to the country´s socio-economic life.
In 1952, Archbishop Gregorios became auxiliary to Archbishop Mar Ivanios, who in 1930 led a group of Orthodox Christians to join the Catholic Church.
The reunited group became known as the Syro-Malankara Church, the youngest of 21 Oriental Churches.
Born Feb. 1, 1916, to an Orthodox Christian family in Kallooppara, central Kerala, Varghese Thangalathil (his baptismal name) entered the Order of the Imitation of Christ in 1935.
Ordained a priest in 1944 at Kandy Papal Seminary in Sri Lanka, he observed the golden jubilee of his ordination Aug. 24 in his sick bed.
Archbishop Gregorios, who succeeded Archbishop Ivanios as the Church´s head in 1955, is credited with attending all sessions of the Second Vatican Council and later synods. His illness prevented him from attending the current synod.
Several political leaders, including Kerala State Chief Minister K. Karunakaran and Federal Minister A.K. Antony, sent messages to the archbishop´s house in Thiruvananthapuram on hearing of his death.
Karunakaran said the prelate´s death is a “great loss to the state of Kerala” and Antony described him as an “ideal of India´s communal amity.”
Cardinal Antony Padiyara of Ernakulam, major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, another of India´s three rites (Latin, Syro-Malabar, Syro-Malankara), said “the Church has lost a leader of the bishops and bishop of the leaders.”
Archbishop Cornelius Elanjikkal of Verapoly, leader of the Latin bishops in Kerala, said he had “a great heart that recognized and respected all.”
Christian institutions in Thiruvananthapuram and those managed by the Syro- Malankara Church in Kerala state observed Oct. 11 as a holiday to mourn Archbishop Gregorios´ death.
Several Hindu and Muslim leaders, paying homage to the late Syro-Malankara head, described him as a “giant who left an indelible mark on the nation´s socio, economic, cultural and political fields.”
Source: UCA News
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