KOCHI: Within a week of being inaugurated as the new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV has authorised the promulgation of decrees for elevating Indian bishop Mathew Makil, Colombian nun Agnese Arango Velásquez and Spanish bishop Alessandro Labaka Ugarte to the rank of Venerables. The decree was published on Thursday by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the dicastery.
Mar Makil was declared a Servant of God in 2009. He was known as the peacemaker, who worked to bring amity between the “northerners” (who considered themselves descendants of the community founded by St Thomas) and the “southerners” (who saw themselves as successors of Mesopotamian migrants). His efforts culminated in a proposal submitted to the Holy See in 1911 to divide the vicariate of Changanacherry into two distinct vicariates: One for the “southerners” and one for the “northerners”. Pope Pius X accepted the proposal and created the vicariate of Kottayam for the “southerners”, entrusting its leadership to Mar Makil.
Born in Manjoor, Kottayam, he became a priest in 1865, at the age of 14, and served in the parish ministry until he was appointed the vicar general of Kottayam in 1889. Three years later, he founded a religious congregation, the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose primary mission was the education of girls. His pastoral ministry was vibrant and dynamic, eventually leading to his appointment as apostolic vicar of Changanacherry in 1896.
As vicar general, Fr Makil was very much interested in the spiritual life, education and uplift of Knanaya women. When Pope Leo XIII reconstituted the two Syro-Malabar vicariates into three, Thrissur, Ernakulam and Changanacherry, in 1896 and appointed indigenous bishops, Monsignor Makil was appointed titular bishop of Trallus and vicar apostolic of Changanacherry. On October 25, 1896, Mar Makil was ordained bishop of Trallus and vicar apostolic of Changanacherry in Kandy by Monsignor Zaleski.
Having no facilities for the higher education of Catholics in Travancore, Mar Makil sought and got government approval for St Berchmans School although the vicariate of Changanassery was then in financial difficulties. He actively promoted catechetical formation, school education, the creation of religious organisations and associations, and the fight against poverty, which afflicted much of society at the time. He also encouraged vocations to consecrated life.