11-February-2005
THE CHURCH HEAD OF MALANKARA SYRIAN CATHOLICS ADOPTED THE TITLE 'CATHOLICOS'
CYRIL MAR BASELIOS APPOINTED AS THE FIRST CATHOLICOS & MAJOR ARCHBISHOP OF MALANKARA CATHOLIC CHURCH
{ News: The New Indian Express dt. 11-Feb-05 }
Cyril Mar Baselios elevated as
Major Archbishop
Friday February 11 2005 00:00 IST
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Malankara Catholic Church
was on Thursday raised to the Archiepiscopal status and Archbishop Cyril Mar
Baselios elevated as the Major Archbishop and Catholicos of the Malankara
Catholic Church.
The announcement of Pope John Paul II in this regard was read out by Vatican's
Nuncio in India Pedro Lopez Quintana at a function at the St Mary's Cathedral
here.
In his reply speech, Major Archbishop and Catholicos Cyril Mar Baselios said
that a long-cherished dream was realised through this elevation. ``The
universality of the Malankara Church has been realised,'' he said.
After the function, the Nuncio and other Bishops visited and said prayers at the
tomb of Mar Ivanios and Mar Gregorios, the late Metropolitan Archbishops of
Thiruvananthapuram and the predecessors of the new Catholicos.
Formed in 1930 as part of the re-unification movement, the Malankara Catholic
Church has a following of about five lakhs.
Former president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI),
70-year-old Cyril Mar Baselios was ordained as priest in 1960 after studies in
pontifical seminary, Pune.
He received doctorate in Canon Law from Gregorian University, Rome, in 1975
after taking Masters degree in Psychology from the St John's University, USA.
He had taught at St Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Kottayam, and the pontifical
seminary, Aluva.
Cyril Mar Baselios became the Bishop of Bathery diocese in 1978 and was made the
Metropolitan Archbishop and head of the Malankara Church in 1995.
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IER20050210105744&Page=R&Title=Kerala&Topic=0&