New Delhi: A Catholic bishop in Kerala, southern India, will create history on June 1 when he donates one of his kidneys to a poor Hindu worker.
“This is part of the Year of Mercy observation,” Auxiliary Bishop Jacob Muricken of Palai told Matters India on May 27 after meeting the authorization committee at Kottayam, a town in Kerala.
The prelate, who will turn 53 on June 16, said the inspiration came from Pope Francis’ call to perform acts of mercy during this year.
The bearded prelate, known for his frugal lifestyle, also said he has passed all tests for donation the organ. He would be admitted in Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi, Kerala’s commercial capital, on May 31 to undergo surgery for kidney removal the next day.
The kidney recipient is E Sooraj, a resident of Kottakkal in Kerala’s Malappuram district.
The prelate said Sooraj was referred to him by Fr Davis Chiramel of the Kidney Foundation of India. The 30-year-old man has been suffering from kidney ailments for the 18 months. He works in Aryavaidyasala, a healthcare center located at Kottakkal, known for its expertise in the Indian traditional medicine system of Ayurveda.
Sooraj’s father died of snakebite four years ago and his brother Unnikrishnan died of heart attack. He is the only earning member of his family of wife Reshmi and ailing mother Parvathi.
Bishop Muricken offered to donate his kidney as Sooraj has no relative who could help, Fr Chiramel, the first Catholic priest in India to donate kidney, told Matters India.
According to the 55-year-old priest from Trichur, only 20 percent of people who volunteer for organization pass the medical tests.
“Bishop Muricken did not think twice to agree to donate his kidney after hearing Sooraj’s sad sorry,” Fr Chiramel said and added that the prelate “will create history as the first prelate in the world to donate kidney.”
The priest, the founder of Accident Care and Transport Service and Kidney Federation of India, said Bishop Muricken had had expressed his desire to donate his kidney after Fr Chiramel highlighted the need for organ donation at a religious convention in Palai two years ago.
In his letter to Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, Bishop Muricken says he found a great challenge in Fr Chiramel’s call for organ donation.
Many people have applauded the bishop’s gesture.
George Kallivayalil, a veteran journalist from Kerala and a relative of Bishop Muriken, says a prelate donating his kidney to a man from another religion will set “a great example of true Christian values.”
Fr Joyal Jacob, director of Palai Communications, the diocese’s center for arts, says the bishop’s gesture will inspire many more priests and religious to help the poor and needy. The 40-year-old priests told Matters India that he also would like to donate his kidney.
The surgery will be conducted at Lakeshore Hospital in Kochi.