Yuhanon Meletius is the

metropolitan bishop In Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan (alternative obsolete form: metropolite), is held by the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a Metropolis (reli ...

of the

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...

's Thrissur Diocese in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Following the death of Baselios Marthoma Paulose II in 2021, Meletius was one of the seven members of an administrative council that governed the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC).

Early life and education

Yuhanon Meletius was born to Markose and Saramma Murimakkil at Ezhakkaranadu. He attended

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

at Maneed before attending St. Peter's College in

Kolenchery Kolenchery is a town in the Poothrikka gram panchayat in Ernakulam district, Kerala. Located on National Highway 85, Kolenchery is situated from Poothrikka and from Kochi. There have been plans to include Kolenchery as part of the Kochi metr ...

, graduating with a degree on

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

. He later attended United Theological College in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

for a MTh and

Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC) is a seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in Chicago, Illinois. LSTC is a member of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), a consortium of eleven area seminaries ...

for

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

studies. He also studied Syriac at St Aphrem’s Seminary in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

Ministry

Meletius was ordained 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 1973 by Paulose Phelexinos and ordained 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 ...

Baselios Paulose II Mor Baselios Paulose II (Syr: ܡܳܪܝ ܒܰܣܺܝܠܺܝܳܘܣ ܦܰܘܠܽܘܣ ܬܪܶܝܳܢܳܐ; Mal: മോർ ബസേലിയോസ് പൗലോസ് ദ്വിതീയൻ; born Puthusseril Joseph Paulose 12 June 1914 – 1 September ...

, the then-

Catholicos A catholicos (plural: catholicoi) is the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and, in some cases, it is the title of the head of an autonomous church. The word comes from ancient Greek ( ...

of a united

Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, also known as the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church, Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, or the Syriac Orthodox Church in India is an autonomous maphrianate of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Syriac Orthodo ...

and

. He was consecrated as a bishop in Damascus on 23 December 1990. On 18 January 2019, clashes erupted between Jacobite and Malanakara Orthodox Christians in front of St. Mary's Church in

Puthur, Thrissur Puthur is a village in the taluk of Thrissur in the Thrissur district of Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of th ...

, injuring several. Among those injured was Meletius, who was hospitalized. Meletius was also among those listed as accused in police cases against the clashing parties. In total, 70 Jacobite and 30 Orthodox were taken into custody. Meletius claimed that members of the Jacobite faction had tried to enter the church for their religious functions, which he claimed was prohibited by a court order. T. V. Anupama, the

district collector The district magistrate, also known as the district collector or deputy commissioner, is a career civil servant who serves as the executive head of a district's administration in India. The specific name depends on the state or union territo ...

, attempted mediation following the clashes and instructed both the Jacobite and Orthodox factions to vacate the church's surroundings, while Meletius accused the local police chief of instigating the Jacobite attempt to enter the church. Meletius was present as Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, the Malankara Catholicos of the East, refused mediation from other Christian denominations in resolving the row in December 2019, which the MOSC declared an internal matter. Meletius was among those who approved the budgetary needs of the MOSC; in 2020, he was among the functionaries who approved a

₹ The Indian rupee sign ⟨₹⟩ is the currency symbol for the Indian rupee (ISO 4217: INR), the official currency of India. Designed by D. Udaya Kumar, it was presented to the public by the Government of India on 15 July 2010, following its ...

790 crore annual budget for the church. Following the July 2021 death of Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Meletius was on the seven-person administrative council that governed the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church until

Baselios Marthoma Mathews III Baselios Marthoma Mathews III (born 12 February 1949) is the present Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the Malankara Church, serving as its primate. He was enthroned as the 22nd Malankara Metropolitan on 14 October 2021 and as ...

was enthroned in October that year. Following the 2021 announcement of the title of director

Nadirshah Nadirshah is an Indian actor, film director, music composer, playback singer, lyricist, mimicry artist, comedian, and television host, who works in Malayalam films, television and on-stage. He has also done several supporting roles in Malayala ...

's upcoming film '' Easho'' (Malayalam for "

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

"), Meletius dissented against outrage over the film, saying "Does God require our protection?" in a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post. The statement supporting the film's name was clarified to be his personal position rather than that of the church. He later lamented those who were "whipped up" against the film who "did not do anything" when

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and tribal activist

Stan Swamy Stanislaus Lourduswamy, Society of Jesus, SJ (26 April 1937 – 5 July 2021), popularly known as Stan Swamy, was an Catholic Church in India, Indian Catholic priest, a member of the Jesuit order, and a tribal rights activist for several decade ...

died in custody. Meletius has been a critic of "Chrisanghis," Christian sympathizers with the rhetoric of the anti-minority

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the RSS" or the "RSS family") is an umbrella term for the collection of Hindutva organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which remain affiliated to it. These include the pol ...

and

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

. In May 2022, he said "Christians are moving on a suicidal path. I don’t think the Sangh parivar can take the Christians on that easily in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. But I have no doubt that Kerala will also see what we now see in north India." He has encouraged an interfaith closing of ranks akin to that seen during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in order to combat "extremism". The comments came soon after Stan Swamy died in custody in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist case; Meletius has stated that he believes Swamy was "killed". Meletius has also been a critic of P. C. George, a

Poonjar Poonjar is a small Indian town located on the eastern side of Kottayam district in Kerala state, India. Before the independence of India, Poonjar had been the part of Travancore princely state. Erattupetta, Teekoy, Bharananganam, and Vagamon are ...

politician who in 2022 Meletius called "opportunistic" and opposed to what Meletius called a majority of Christians who were "peace-loving" and "committed to the core values of India like democracy, freedom." George responded by accusing Meletius of working for the

Pinarayi Pinarayi is a census town in Kannur district in the Indian state of Kerala. Geography Pinarayi is from the district headquarters Kannur. The nearest town and railway station is Thalassery which is away. The village is surrounded by rivers on ...

government.

References

{{Authority control 1954 births Living people Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago alumni Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church bishops 21st-century Oriental Orthodox archbishops People from Kerala Jacobite Syrian Christian Church clergy Metropolitan bishops