Edinburgh: The body of Father Martin Vazhachira will be kept for public homage on July 31 at St John the Baptist, Corstorphine near Edinburgh where he was the administrator.
The Syro-Malabar community will celebrate a memorial Mass at the church and recite the Office of the Dead for Fr Martin. Priests and other members of the community from all over the UK are expected to attend.
Fr Vazhachira’s body will be flown back to Kerala on August 2 by an Emirates Airlines flight. The Scotland police released the body to his congregation the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate(CMI) on July 27.
Father Vazhachira’s funeral is being planned at Sacred Heart Monastery at Chethipuzha in Changanacherry.
33-year-old Fr. Martin arrived in Scotland in July 2016 in order to undertake post-graduate studies at Edinburgh University. His body was found at a beach in Edinburgh, nearly 50 km away from St John the Baptist’s Church where he served since October 2016.
His body was since held by Scotland police to complete investigation into the cause of death. The Scottish investigators are yet to release the report or announce the cause of his death.