By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, Sept 6, 2023: Father Ebi Poruthoor is the latest Catholic priest in the southern Indian state of Kerala to donate one of his kidneys.
The 31-year-old priest of the diocese of Palghat on September 4 donated the kidney to Sister Bini Maria, his sister.
The 27-year-old member of the Holy Family congregation required dialysis thrice a week for several years, reports Shekinah News.
The surgeries on the siblings were conducted at the Rajagiri Hospital, managed by the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in Aluva, a major town in Ernakulam district, some 30 km northeast of Kochi.
Father Ebi, who was ordained a priest on December 27, 2017, and Sister Bini are the children of Anto and Ruby Poruthoor, parishioners of St Antony’s Forane Church in Melarkode.
Father Ebi is currently the vicar of St Antony’s Church Kozhinjampara in Palakkad district.
He told Matters India September 6 that it would take at least two months for him to be active again.
Kerala has witnessed scores of Catholic priests and nuns donating their kidneys to poor patients.
Earlier this year, Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father James Kunthara, rector of the Pope John Paul II Minor Seminary at Neeleswaram, Malayattoor, donated his kidney to Jojo Jose, manager of a hotel near Angamaly in Ernakulam district, who suffered from acute renal failure. The surgery too was conducted May 17 at Rajagiri Hospital.
An earlier donor was Father Cheriyan Nereveetil, a former editor of Sathyadeepam, Kerala’s leading Church weekly, who died on May 27, 2021, from head injuries sustained in a road accident in Kochi. The priest, who was 49 when he died, had donated his kidney to a poor girl.
The first priest to donate a kidney was Father Davis Chiramel, who is now known as the kidney priest of India. The 63-year-old priest of Trichur archdiocese has been singularly responsible for half a million people in India pledging their kidneys for donation post-mortem.
Father Davis donated his kidney in 2009 to man of Hindu faith in 2009 who lived in his then parish – St Francis Xavier Church in Vadanapally.
He is now the chairperson of the Kidney Federation of India, an autonomous Non-Governmental Organization dedicated to bringing freshness to the lives of the poor.
The federation focuses on helping the poor people suffering from kidney related diseases in their treatments including kidney transplantation, dialysis, medical assistance and other needs.
It also spreads awareness regarding kidney and related diseases, kidney donation and formation of Kidney Bank, an initiative to gather people willing to donate their kidneys.
The federation was founded in 2009 by Father Chiramel.