Mor Baselios Thomas-I, spiritual head of Syrian Christians of India, passes away

KOCHI: The head of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, Mor Baselios Thomas-I passed away at 5.25 pm on Thursday. He was 95. For the past six months, Baselios Thomas was undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Kochi. On Thursday morning his health worsened and ventilator assistance was sought. By evening, Baselios Thomas breathed his last.

Mor Baselios Thomas-I will be remembered for leading the Jacobite Church from the impasse in the decades-long Jacobite-Orthodox church dispute. He has not been in church leadership or administration since 2019 due to health issues.

He was born on July 22, 1929, as the son of the Matthai-Kunjamma couple in the Cheruvillil family Puthankurishu Vadayampadi in Kochi. He was ordained a priest on 21 October 1958 and later consecrated as Metropolitan in 1974.

On February 22, 1998, Mor Baselios Thomas I became president of the Synodal Church. On December 27, 2000, the church meeting at Puthankurishu elected him as the designated Superior general. On July 26, 2002, he was enthroned as Patriarch of Antioch and All the East in a ceremony held in Damascus, Syria.