Joseph Mar Thoma, apostle of marginalised
TIRUVALLA: Dr Joseph Mar Thoma, head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, passed away here on Sunday morning. He was 89.He had been under treatment at Believers Church Medical College Hospital here for the last two weeks for pancreatic cancer and he breathed his last at 2.30am. Consecrated as the Supreme Head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church on October 2, 2007, after Philipose Mar Chrysostom relinquished the charge due to ill health, Joseph Mar Thoma was known for his compassion and vision.
In his condolence message, PM Narendra Modi said, “Dr Joseph Mar Thoma was a remarkable personality who served humanity and worked hard to improve the lives of the poor and the downtrodden. He was blessed with abundance of empathy and humility.”
CM Pinarayi Vijayan said the Metropolitan fought against social evils throughout his life. “He was a unique person who had treaded the unbeaten path to ensure welfare of the marginalised, poor and downtrodden in society. The intervention to rehabilitate the children in the red-light areas of Mumbai and the effort to bring the transgenders to the mainstream were the instances of his compassion towards the weaker sections in society,” Pinarayi said.
The mortal remains of the Metropolitan were brought to the Dr Alexander Mar Thoma Auditorium here at 5am on Sunday and will be kept there till 2pm on Monday for people to pay their last respects. The last rites will be performed on the church headquarters premises at 3pm.
Known for his outspoken nature, Joseph Mar Thoma had blamed Western evangelism for the riots in Odisha’s Kandhamal in 2008 after his visit to the riot-ravaged areas later. “The drawback is that they denounce other faiths and cultures. Theirs is a hit-and-run evangelism,” he had told TNIE in an interview published in 2009.
Born on June 27, 1931, to Puthoor Mariamma and Lukochen couple, Rev Dr Joseph Mar Thoma’s official name was P T Joseph. He was born in the Maramon Palakunnathu family which was the ancestral home of Abraham Malpan, father of the reformation of the Malankara Church, and the first four Metropolitans of the Mar Thoma Church.
After school education in Kozhenchery St Thomas High School, he graduated from Union Christian College, Aluva. Having dedicated himself to serving the Church, he passed Bachelor of Divinity from United Theological College, Bengaluru. He served as the vicar of Ranni, Kozhikode, Kundara, Madras and Thiruvananthapuram parishes. As the Church deputed him, he served as the travelling secretary of the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association for a few years during a crisis in the organisation. He got his Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary and Master of Sacred Theology from Canterbury St Augustine College.
The Sabha Prathinidhi Mandalam in its meeting in November 1974 selected him as an episcopa. Joseph Ramban was ordained Joseph Mar Iraneus Episcopa on February 8, 1975. In 1988, he was appointed head of the Thiruvananthapuram-Kollam diocese. He organised the starting of Ayoor Mar Thoma College of Science and Technology for the diocese.
He had served as the vice-president and president of the National Council of Churches. In connection with the 80th birthday of the Metropolitan, the Church inaugurated a project for the critically ill cancer, kidney and heart patients irrespective of their caste and religion. Every year, the Church disburses about `50 lakh for the same.
Metropolitan of the Knanaya Church Kuriakose Mar Severios, Tiruvalla Archbishop Thomas Mar Coorilos and Joshua Mar Ignathios of Malankara Catholic Church, Yuhanon Mar Chrisostomos of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and Bishop Thomas Samuel of Church of South India were among the bishops who paid their last respects to the metropolitan on Sunday.