PM Modi expresses his condolences on the death of the Supreme Head of the Indian Orthodox Church.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences on the death of Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the supreme head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India, who died in the early hours of Monday. The Prime Minister also extended his condolences to Orthodox Church members during this difficult time.

“Saddened by the passing away of His Holiness Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the Supreme Head of Indian Orthodox Church. He leaves behind a rich legacy of service and compassion. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the members of the Orthodox Church. RIP,” PM tweeted.

Baselios Marthoma Paulose II (74) died at 2:35 a.m. at a private hospital in Parumala, Kerala's Pathanamthitta district, from post-Covid-19 problems, according to a church official. The senior priest had been battling lung cancer since December of last year and had just recently recovered from a coronavirus infection in February of this year.

Baselios Marthoma Paulose II was born on August 30, 1946, to Kollannur Iype and Pulikkottil Kunjeetty. He attended a government school in Pazhanji and then St. Thomas College in Kerala. He began his theology studies in 1969 at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, where he was mentored by Paulos Gregorios, T J Abraham Malpan, and N K Koruthu Malpan.

According to the church, Baselios Marthoma Paulose II was the eighth Catholicos of the East in Malankara and the 91st primate on St Thomas' Apostolic Throne. In November 2010, he was enthroned as the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan.

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