Major Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios Passes Away

The first Major Archbishop and Catholicos of the Malankara Catholic Church Cyril Mar Baselious passed away on Thursday 18th January, 2007. He was 71.

The Major Archbishop was diabetic and had been undergoing dialysis for the last six months. He was admitted to a private hospital here on Thursday morning following complaints of uneasiness.

He breathed his last there at 6.45 p.m. His death was unexpected as the Major Archbishop was the chief celebrant at an installation ceremony at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom, on Wednesday.

Funeral was held on Saturday, 20th January, 2007.

All educational institutions under the Malankara Catholic diocese remained closed on Friday and Saturday.

It was during his tenure as Archbishop in February 2005 that the Malankara Catholic Church was elevated to Major Archiepiscopal status. Cyril Mar Baselius was a member in the congregation for oriental churches in Rome.

People from all walks of life turned up in large numbers at the St. Mary’s Cathedral here on Friday to pay their last respects to Major Archbishop of the Malankara Catholic Church Cyril Mar Baselius who passed away on Thursday.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Mayor C. J ayan Babu, District Collector N. Ayyappan, freedom fighter K.E. Mammen, Chennai Archbishop Chinnappa and Mavelikkara Archbishop Joshua Mar Ignatios were among those who arrived at the church in the morning to pay homage.

Representative of the Pope in India Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, C.C.B.A president Archbishop Oswald Gracious were among those who came to pay their respect to Archbishop Baselios. This was followed by the “Dhupa-Prarthana” by all seven Bishops of the Malankara Catholic Church. Following which, Trivandrum Arch-Diocese Arch Bishop and close friend of Catholica Bava, Arch Bishop Susapa gave a speech.

The funeral service which started at 12.15 p.m. was lead by Geevarghese Mar Divanyasios, the Bishop of Bathery and the administrator of the Malankara Catholic Church. The funeral rites were preceded by a public procession from St.Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Palayam.

It was a sad moment when H.E. Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios’ was taken from St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, Pattom for a procession around the city of Thruvananthapuram.

The cathedral bells chimed and hymns in Syriac exhorting to `go in peace’ sung by the mourners rented the air as priests acting as pallbearers escorted the throne down the aisle. The throne was then raised at the four doors of the Cathedral, representing East, West, North and South, by the priests as sign of bidding adieu to the city and its people. The `funeral squad,’ comprising the State police armed battalion, reversed arms as a mark of respect.

“Ente nagarame, janame, ningalodu njyaan yatra parayunnu. Ningal samadhanathode vasikyuka” (My city, my people, I bid adieu to you. Peace be with you.) – was the farewell prayer being said as the procession moved around the city. As the procession moved through the city, people bid farewell with tears to the Archbishop.

The procession moved along the flyover, PMG Junction and Lourdes Church and reached the cathedral in two hours. Around 30,000 people including Cardinal Moussa Ignace Daoud, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Pedro Lopez Quintana, representative of the Pope in India, 25 Bishops, 1,500 priests and 3,000 nuns attended the service.

Draped in solemn vestment and seated on a throne with the symbolic staff in hand, the body was interred alongside his predecessors Mar Ivanios and Mar Gregorios, in a specially prepared vault filled with frankincense at the basement of the Cathedral.

As the body entered St. Mary´s Cathedral after the two-hour long procession, the church bell chimed and the choir began a traditional funeral song in Syriac, the liturgical language of the Syro-Malankara Church.

Bishop Geevarghese Mar Divannasios of Bathery, elected as the Church´s administrator by the bishops´ senate, led the funeral services.

Priests representing the Church´s six dioceses and its sole Bethany Religious congregation received the body. They carried it on the throne to the four doors of the cathedral representing east, west, north and south, and then raised it with prayers to signify the late prelate bidding farewell to the city and its people.

Meanwhile, outside the cathedral, the funeral squad of armed state police battalion reversed their arms as a mark of respect.

Before the body was interned in a crypt, the golden cross, chain, ring and scepter were replaced with wooden replicas. Only bishops, dignitaries and representatives of priests, nuns and laypeople were allowed inside the cathedral. Others watched the proceedings on closed-circuit television sets.

When the body was brought near the crypt, Bishop Divannasios, the main celebrant, made the sign of the cross with holy oil on Archbishop Baselios´ forehead, chest and knees. He then made the sign of the cross with mud on the chest. “You are dust and will return to dust, but will be renewed,” the celebrant pronounced. The late prelate´s face was covered with a cloth before the body was placed in the crypt, which was later filled with incense.

The service ended with an archdiocesan priest saying farewell on behalf of the late prelate, following another Eastern tradition.

The priest said goodbye to the cathedral, priests and city four times, turning to the four directions. The mourners chanted in Syriac: “Go in peace, you, the heir of paradise.”

Archbishop Lopez Quintana read out a condolence message from Pope Benedict XVI that called the death “a loss for the Catholic Church in general and the Malankara Church in particular.” The pope remembered the prelate´s social and spiritual contributions.

The bishops of the Church are scheduled to elect a new major archbishop on Feb. 7, when the Church ends its 21-day mourning period.

Father Thomas Panicker, a Church historian, told the Oriental bishops are buried in sitting position to symbolize the promise of Christ that they, as successors of the 12 Apostles, will sit on the throne to judge the 12 tribes of Israel at the Last Judgment. Oriental Catholics traditionally believe their spiritual heads will continue to inspire them even after death.

Father Panicker also explained that in India, most Hindu spiritual leaders are buried in a similar manner. Filling the crypt with incense recalls Jesus´ body being wrapped in perfumed linen clothes and buried with spices. Earlier, tombs of revered Indians also were filled with spices, he noted.

The historian-priest said the body is always put into the crypt facing east, anticipating Christ´s second coming. Following another Eastern custom, special evening and morning prayers are said at the tomb for three days.

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