By George Cheriyan
Kottayam, Oct.16, 2021: The Kerala-based Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church has elected its supreme head
The enthronement of Mathews Mar Severios Metropolitan was held October 15 at Parumala in Pathanamthitta district. During the enthronement, the new head became the Catholicos of the East with the name Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews III.
He succeeded Baselios Mar Thomas Poulose II, who died in July this year. The 72-year-old bishop will be the new Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan, the religious titles of the supreme head of the 2.5 million strong church.
He was elected unanimously on Oct. 14 at the meeting of the 47th Malankara Syrian Christian Association, an apex body comprising priests and laity representatives from all parishes under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The meeting was held virtually and was attended by 3,091 representatives from across the world.
The word Catholicos comes from the ancient Greek word katholikós (universal). The title implies the head of an autonomous church, who does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. Metropolitan Severios will be the ninth Catholicos and 22nd Malankara Metropolitan.
His election came as he was serving as the Metropolitan of the Diocese of Kandanad West of the Church. He also served as the secretary of the Episcopal Synod for long. He has also become the assistant to the Catholicos of the Church and served as the vice president of Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, Kerala.
Mathews was born on February 12, 1949, to Cherian Anthrayos of Mattathil family in Vazhoor. He studied chemistry at Kerala University and Theology at Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam and Serampore College. He obtained Master’s degree from Leningrad Theological Seminary and doctorate in Oriental theology from Pontifical Oriental Institute at Rome He has specialized in the Christology of Philexinus of Mabbug of the West Syriac tradition.
He was ordained a deacon in 1976 and then as a priest in 1978 by Baselios Mathews I. On April 30, 1991, he was consecrated to the order of Episcopos (bishops). In 1994, he was consecrated as a metropolitan of the Diocese of Kandanad West.
Also he has been serving as the assistant metropolitan of Idukki diocese since 2019. He is a teacher at Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam since 1984. He taught Christology in the graduate and post-graduate levels while guiding a number of doctoral theses.
He has authored several scholarly books and articles in the field of Theology. He has also served as the executive secretary to the Episcopal Synod. The episcopal synod nominated him as the successor to the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan on September 16.
He is also the president of Asha Bhawan (house of hope) at Kozhimala near Thiruvalla and Karunalayam (house of mercy) at Aduputty, Kunnamkulam, for mentally retarded women, each housing 50 women. Severios is also the president of an under-construction project–Sneha Bhawan—at Hunsur, Mysore in Karnataksa, that has 100 mentally ill inmates.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church also known as the Indian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Church based in Kerala. The church serves a section of India’s Saint Thomas Christian population. According to the tradition, the church originated in the missions of Thomas the Apostle in the 1st century.
The Christian population of Kerala comprises Catholic, Jacobite Syrian, Orthodox Syrian, Mar Thoma, Church of South India, Dalit Christians and Pentecostal sects. Catholics form 61 percent of Kerala’s Christian population. The Malankara Church, a prominent non-Catholic Christian community, constitutes 15.9 percent.
The Malankara Church first split in 1912, into the Jacobite and Orthodox groups. The two Churches reunified in 1959, but the truce lasted only until 1973. Since then, the two factions have been engaged in battle over ownership of churches and their wealth. Attempts to settle ownership disputes out-of-court have often failed.
Faction members have often clashed on the streets too, and both sides have taken custody of several churches depending on which one has local muscle power. The dispute has been running for decades in various courts. The Supreme Court had heard several petitions. The ruling of 2017 came on a petition moved by the Orthodox Church, which demanded that all churches under the Malankara Church be governed as per the Church Constitution of 1934.
Around 1,064 churches, whose ownership is under dispute, some 15 have remained closed without worship for several years. A few abandoned churches have got dilapidated after both factions built their own separate places of worship. The battle for ownership is very intense in around 200 churches, where both factions are equally strong. The numerical strength of rival factions in each parish decides who controls the local church and its properties.
Metropolitan Severios, being secretary of the Episcopal Synod was responsible for managing the legal affairs of the Orthodox Church, However, in his post-election speech yesterday he said that ‘the Malankara Church is one, a family and the differences between the brothers should be resolved.’
Church observers in Kerala this statement gives a ray of hope for ending the century’s old dispute in the Church. He further said, “Does not want sectarianism. The community should remain a disciplined community under a well-organized and sustainable legal system.’