People

Head of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church dies at 74

Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, died on July 12 at the age of 74. He had been undergoing cancer treatment for the last two years.

Paulose was or­dained as a priest in 1973 and consecrated as a bishop in 1985. He became the head of the MOSC, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, in 2010 following the abdication of Baselios Marthoma Didymus I.

As a leader, Paulose was particularly interested in building relationships with other ethnic Orthodox churches, as well as with the Roman Catholic Church. He also championed women’s participation in church life, giving them full voting rights in church parishes.