His Holiness Moran Mor Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Catholicos of the East and primate of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, passed away yesterday. He was the 91st reigning Catholicos of the East.
The funeral services will be held today at the Catholicate Palace chapel in Devalokam in Kottayam district from 3pm. 
The Metropolitan had been ailing for quite some time. His end came at 2.35am yesterday at a private hospital in Parumala in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district while undergoing treatment for post-Covid-19 complications, a church spokesman said. He was 75.
A much-loved personality, Bawa Thirumeni, as he was known to all, was a great source of support to the destitute and the poor for whom he executed many a service scheme. A great humanitarian, he was a votary of social justice and equality. 
Bawa Thirumeni was born on August 30, 1946, in Mangad, a village near Kunnamkulam in Thrissur district. He was ordained priest in 1973.