Baselios Marthoma Mathews III (born 12 February 1949) is the present Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the

Malankara Church The Malankara Church, also known as Malankara Syrian Church, was the unified body of '' Puthankur'' Saint Thomas Christians who claim origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. This community, under the leadership of Thoma I, oppos ...

, serving as its

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

. He was enthroned as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan on 14 October 2021 and as the 9th Catholicos on 15 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala, succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II.

Early life and education

Mathews was born on 12 February 1949 to Cherian Anthrayos of Mattathil family in Vazhoor. He studied chemistry at Kerala University and Theology at Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam and Senate of Serampore College. He procured his Master's degree from Leningrad Theological Seminary and Doctorate in Oriental theology from

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had bee ...

at Rome. where he specialized in the Christology of Philoxenos of Mabbug of the West Syriac tradition.

Ministry

Priesthood

He was ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1976 and then as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1978 by Baselios Mathews I. On 30 April 1991 he was consecrated to the order of Episcopos. In 1994, he was consecrated as a metropolitan of the Diocese of Kandanad West. He has also served as the assistant metropolitan of the Diocese of Idukki and is currently serving as the Metropolitan of Idukki since 2019. He has been a teacher at Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, since 1984. He has taught Christology in the graduate and post-graduate levels while guiding a number of doctoral theses. He has authored several scholarly books and articles in the field of Theology. He has also served as the Executive Secretary to the Holy Episcopal Synod. The Holy Episcopal synod held at Devalokam Aramana nominated him as the successor to the Catholicos of the East & Malankara Metropolitan on 16 September 2021. He has organized several charitable projects at the diocesan level. Mar Pachomios Charitable Society, formed in the memory of his predecessor Joseph Mar Pachomios, Metropolitan of Kandanad, runs over a dozen charitable projects including; Pratheeksha Bhavan, Prasanthi Bhavan, Prathyasa Bhavan, Pradanam Centre, Pramodam Project, Prasannam Bhavan, Prakasam Institute of Special Education and Prathibha Products. Enthronement of Mathews III

Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan

In October 2021, the Holy Synod and Managing committee designated him as the new Malankara Metropolitan and Catholicos of Malankara Church, succeeding Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, who died in July 2021. He was enthroned as the 22nd

Malankara Metropolitan The Malankara Metropolitan, or the Metropolitan of Malabar, is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of the Malankara Syrian Church. It evolved from the sixteenth-century East Syriac metropolitans of India who were also styled as the Metro ...

during the Malankara Association that took place on 14 October 2021 at St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Parumala. He was enthroned as Catholicos of the Apostolic Throne of Saint Thomas on 15 October 2021 by the Holy Synod of Malankara Church. The chief celebrant of the enthronement service and Holy Eucharist was Kuriakose Mar Clemis who is the senior metropolitan of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Cardinal Mar George Alenchery inaugurated a meeting held to congratulate the new head of the church. Panakkad Syed Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal, Cardinal Mar Cleemis, Suffragan Metropolitan Euyakim Mar Coorilos, Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan, Bishop Awgin Kuriakose, Yuhanon Mar Diascoros Metropolitan, minister V N Vasavan, among others spoke during the meeting. Felicitation letters from Patriarch Kirill, the supreme head of

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

, and other International Ecumenical heads was also read on the occasion. Fr Alexander Kurien also conveyed wishes from the US President Joe Biden and presented a memento from the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

Episcopal Consecrations

Mathews III consecrated seven metropolitan bishops at St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Pazhanji on 28 July 2022. The metropolitans are Abraham Stephanos, Thomas Ivanios, Geevarghese Theophilos, Geevarghese Philexinos, Geevarghese Pachomios, Geevarghese Barnabas and Zacharias Severios.

Works

*''Word Became Flesh: The Christology of Philoxenos of Mabbug''

Festschrifts

*''Begotten, Not Made'' This collection of essays on Christology was published in 2017 by the colleagues and students of Mar Severios at the Seminary to mark the 25th year of his Episcopal consecration.

Distinctions

The official form of address of the Catholicos is ''Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan enthroned on the Apostolic Throne of St. Thomas''.

Orders

* Order of Glory and Honor from

on 2 November 2024. *

Order of Friendship The Order of Friendship (, ') is a state decoration of the Russian Federation established by Boris Yeltsin by presidential decree 442 of 2 March 1994 to reward Russian and foreign nationals whose work, deeds and efforts have been aimed at ...

from

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

on 12 December 2024.

Honorary Doctorates

* In 2022, he was given an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, New York. * On 7 September 2023, St. Petersburg Theological Academy (formerly known as the Leningrad Theological Academy while he was a student there in the 1970s) awarded him an honorary doctorate.

Notes

External links

Website of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severios, Mathews Mar 1949 births Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church bishops Living people 20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops 21st-century Oriental Orthodox bishops