SYRO-MALABAR Church’s Major Archbishop Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil’s funeral will be held at the Ernakulam St Mary’s Cathedral Basilica on April 10.
According to an official communication from the church, the funeral rites will begin at 2.30 pm.
There will be special prayers, holy Mass and other rituals at the Syro-Malabar churches and other establishments.
Syro- Malabar Church administrator Bishop Bosco Puthur said black flags would be hoisted at the churches as part of the mourning.
The cardinal’s body will be kept for public homage at St George Basilica, Angamaly, on April 9 at 8 am. From there the body will be taken to Mount St Thomas at 9 am.
There will be a social Mass at 10.30 am. The body will be kept at Ernakulam St Mary’s Cathedreal Basilica for public homage at 4 pm.
According to the church, on April 10, the funeral rites will begin from 2.30 pm onwards. Catholic Bishops’ Council of India president Cardinal Oswald Gracious, CCBI president Cardinal Telesfor Topo, Vatican representative in India, heads of Malankara and Latin Churches and other Church leaders will attend the funeral of Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil.
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his sorrow at the death of Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil.
In a telegram sent to Bishop Bosco Puthur of the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, the Pope said that he was ‘deeply saddened’ to hear of the prelate’s death.
The Pontiff stated: “I offer you, the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the entire Syro-Malabar Church my deepest condolences and the assurance of my prayers.”
Varkey Vithayathil was born in 1927. He was ordained a priest in 1954.
In 1955, he went to Rome for his studies in common law and a doctorate on the origin and progress of the Syro-Malabar hierarchy.
Father Vithayathil was ordained a bishop by Pope John Paul II in 1997. In 1999, he was appointed the major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church and as the archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly.
He was elevated to cardinal in 2001. He was a member of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The cardinal also served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India since 2008.
