In Memoriam: Metropolitan Mar Barnabas of New York

Metropolitan Mar Barnabas (Mathews) of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, recently retired Metropolitan of New York and Northeast America, has reposed at the age of eighty-eight. Born K.K. Mathukutty in Perumbavoor, Kerala, on 9 August 1924, the future metropolitan was in 1951 ordained to the priesthood as Fr. Mathews, later being consecrated to the episcopacy in 1978 as Bishop Mar Barnabas.

In 1981 Mar Barnabas was elevated to the rank of metropolitan, and in 1982 he was elected as the first metropolitan of the newly established Diocese of Idukki in eastern Kerala. In 1992 Metropolitan Mar Barnabas was transferred to the Malankara Orthodox Diocese of New York and America, becoming its second ruling metropolitan and shepherding the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in North America until 2009, when new dioceses were created and he became ruling metropolitan of the Northeast American Diocese.

During Metropolitan Mar Barnabas' tenure in North America the Church there underwent a period of significant growth, with new churches being established across the continent. In 2011 he retired as metropolitan to return to Kerala, where he was cared for as his health declined. This past Sunday, 9 December, he fell asleep at the Pampady Monastery at the age of eighty-eight. May Metropolitan Mar Barnabas' memory be eternal! A full account of his life may be found here.

Kerala 2-Child Draft Bill Criticized By Religious Organizations

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian and Malankara Syriac Orthodox Churches are joining other religious organizations in Kerala in criticizing a draft bill on women's rights in the Indian state that would limit couples to having two children in an effort to curb the growth of the state's population. More here.

New Syro-Malabar Catholic Primate Elected

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church of Kerala has elected Bishop Mar George Alencherry of Thuckalay as the new Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly and primate of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Archbishop Mar George is the first primate to be elected since Pope John Paul II of Rome's grant of the equivalent of autocephaly to the church in 1992. The election has already been approved by Pope Benedict XVI. More here.

Syro-Malabar Catholic Primate Passes Away

Major Archbishop Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has passed away in Kochi, Kerala. More here.

Hindus Burn Kerala Church

A Malankara Orthodox (or possibly a Malankara Catholic) church has been burned down in the Indian state of Kerala by Hindu fundamentalists. More here.

MOSC Seeks Greater Representation for Keralan Christians in INC

Representatives of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church will meet with Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Indian National Congress party, to seek wider representation for Kerala's Orthodox Christians in the party. The hope is to have Congress and its Keralan affiliate to commit to giving Kerala's Christians eleven representatives in the upcoming parliamentary elections (Orthodox Christians, Roman and Eastern Catholics, and Anglicans together form roughly 20% of the population of Kerala). More here.

Metropolitan Mar Aprem of Adoor Enthroned Today

The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is celebrating the foundation of the Diocese of Adoor and Kadampanaadu in Kerala today. Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II is celebrating the inauguration of the diocese and the enthronement of its first ruling bishop, Metropolitan Zachariah Mar Aprem, at St. Thomas' Cathedrals in Adoor and Kadampanaadu. More here.

Former Malankara Orthodox Catholicos Visits Dubai

During a visit to St. Thomas' Cathedral in Dubai, UAE, retired Catholicos Baselios Mar Thoma Didymos I of the independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church spoke on the need of the faithful in Kerala and throughout the world to attend the divine services regularly, pray daily, and keep the fasts to provide the younger generations of the Church with a spiritual inheritance worthy of emulation. He also spoke against alcoholism, which is a growing problem in all segments of society in Kerala.

The retired catholicos is in Dubai as part of a week-long visit to the Malankara Orthodox Church in the United Arab Emirates that will include services at the cathedral in Dubai and the parish churches in Sharjah, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaymah, al-Ain, and Abu Dhabi. More on the Catholicos' visit can be found here.

Malankara Orthodox Metropolitan in USA to Retire

Metropolitan Mar Barnabas of New York of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church's Northeastern American Diocese has announced his intention to retire due to his advanced age and to return to Kerala to finish his life there. More on the retirement here. More on Mar Barnabas' life can be found here.

Pictured is Metropolitan Mar Barnabas.

Muted Christmas Celebrations in Kerala

Celbrations for new style Nativity in Kerala are somewhat muted this year due to the recent death of the Indian state's chief minister, whose funeral cortege passed through predominantly Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic central Kerala on the eve of the holiday. More here.

Kerala High Court Recommends Mediation

The Kerala High Court has asked the Malankara Syriac Orthodox Church under the Antioch Patriarchate and the independent Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church under the Catholicosate of the East to resolve their differences through mediation instead of continuing their ongoing lawsuits in Kerala's courts. The High Court recommended that each jurisdiction nominate representatives to serve on a mediation committee to work towards resolving the 70 lawsuits currently in progress. More here.