Cleemis Prince of Church

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The Major Archbishop Catholicos of the Syro Malankara church, Mar Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, joined the College of Cardinals on Saturday along with six others at a ceremony led by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.

Mar Cleemis, 53, received the gold ring and the biretta from the Pope during a ceremony that started at 11 am (local time) at St Peter's Basilica. Mar Cleemis, also the youngest cardinal, preferred the oriental black biretta, and not the traditional scarlet one picked by other cardinals.

The elevation of the head of the Syro Malankara church marked a milestone in the history of the
Catholic church in Kerala which now has two serving cardinals for the first time, the other being Mar George Alencherry, head of the Syro Malabar church. Others who joined the College of Cardinals on Saturday are American James Michael Harvey, Lebanon's Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, John Onaiyekan of Nigeria, Colombian Ruben Salazar Gomez and Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines.

All the new cardinals are from outside Europe and this was perceived as an attempt by the Pope to address criticism that he was euro-centric.

Mar Cleemis’ brothers T. M. Mathew and Thomas Mathew, sisters Susamma, Rev. Sr Joice and Jolly also were at the Vatican to witness the ceremony.

Apart from them, around 200 people from Kerala that included an official fivemember delegation headed by Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P.J. Kurien watched the ceremony at the Vatican.

Thiruvananthapuram mayor J. Chandrika; Palode Ravi, MLA; Archbishop Soosapakiam; Palayam Imam Jamaluddin Manakkad; Santhigiri Ashram chief Swami Jnanaratna Thapasi; Marthoma metropolitan Mar Joseph Bharnabas and CSI Bishop Dharmaraj Rassalam also attended the ceremony.

Back in Kerala, a special mass was celebrated at St Joseph’s Church at the new cardinal’s native village Mukkoor in Pathanamthitta to mark the occasion.