Emeritus Metropolitan and 20th Mar Thoma Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom passes away

Programme Review and Programme Direction

Two key deliberative sessions during the 15th CCA General Assembly are the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions.

The Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions will both be conducted in three groups relating to the CCA’s programme areas, namely, (i) General Secretariat (GS), (ii) Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF); and (iii) Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia (PD).

Assembly participants will have the option to join one of three groups for both the Programme Review and Programme Direction sessions. For the sake of coherence, the assigned group will remain the same for both sessions.

General Secretariat

The General Secretariat oversees the coordination of programmatic, administrative, and financial activities of the organization. The GS comprises various departments such as church and ecumenical relations, relations with ecumenical partners, finance, administration, and communications, which provide crucial support and services for the implementation of programs and contribute to the overall functioning of the CCA.

Programmes: Relations with member churches and councils, ecumenical partners; advocacy at the United Nations; ecumenical responses to emerging issues in solidarity; income development and finance; and communications.

Mission in Unity and Contextual Theology (MU) and Ecumenical Leadership Formation and Spirituality (EF)

Under the MU programme area, the CCA accompanies Asian churches to strengthen their mission and witness in multi-religious contexts, revitalise and nurture church unity and the Asian ecumenical movement, and develop contextual theological foundations.

Programmes: Asian Movement for Christian Unity (AMCU); Congress of Asian Theologians (CATS); Asian women doing theology in the context of wider ecumenism; contextualisation of theology in Asia and ecumenical theological education.

The EF programme area focuses on nurturing and developing ecumenical leaders in Asia. The programme aims to enhance spiritual formation and theological understanding, enabling people to actively engage in ecumenical dialogue and collaboration.

Programmes: Ecumenical Enablers’ Training in Asia (EETA); Asian Ecumenical Institute (AEI); Youth and Women Leadership Development; Ecumenical Spirituality and Nurturing of Contextual Liturgical Traditions; Asia Sunday

Building Peace and Moving Beyond Conflicts (BP) and Prophetic Diakonia and Advocacy (PD)

The BP programme area is dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and reconciliation in Asia’s diverse contexts. Through training, advocacy, and dialogue, the programme addresses the root causes of conflicts, empowers communities, and fosters sustainable peacebuilding initiatives.

Programmes: Pastoral Solidarity Visits; Churches in Action for Moving Beyond Conflict and Resolution; Young Ambassadors of Peace in Asia (YAPA); Ecumenical Women’s Action Against Violence (EWAAV); Eco-Justice for Sustainable Peace in the Oikos.

The PD programme area focuses on promoting justice, human rights, and social transformation in Asia. Through advocacy, capacity-building, and raising awareness, the programme addresses systemic injustice, empowers marginalised communities, and advocates for prophetic actions and meaningful change.

Programmes: Human Rights advocacy; Migration, Statelessness, and Trafficking in Persons; Asian Ecumenical Disability Advocacy Network; Asian Advocacy Network on the Dignity and Rights of Children (AANDRoC); Ecumenical Solidarity Accompaniment and Diakonia in Asia (ESADA); Health and Healing; Good Governance; Action Together to Combat HIV and AIDS in Asia (ATCHAA).

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05 May 2021

Former head and Emeritus Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in India, His Eminence Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan, the 20th Mar Thoma, passed away in the early hours of Wednesday, 5 May 2021, of age-related ailments.

Mar Chrysostom has been at the helm of ecclesiastical and ecumenical movements for over seven decades.

Born on 27 April 1917, Mar Chrysostom had just turned 103 last week and stepped into his 104th year. He was considered to be the longest-serving Bishop in the world.

Mar Chrysostom was a widely respected religious dignitary who had a global vision for humanity. In 2018, Mar Chrysostom was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards of honour by the Government of India, in recognition of his distinguished leadership in various fields. He is the only Christian bishop to receive such an honour in India.

During his active service in the episcopacy for more than half a century, he administered various dioceses of the Mar Thoma Church in India as well as in other continents; the Diaspora Marthomite communities are now spread in Europe, North America, Africa, West Asia (Middle East), as well as in most Asian countries including Australia and New Zealand.

Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom provided leadership in the Christian Conference of Asia (CCA) through its Church and Society division in the 1960s and 1970s.

Mar Chrysostom represented the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church at the CCA General Assemblies held in Bangkok, Thailand (1967), Singapore (1973), and Penang, Malaysia (1977), and was the official delegate to the World Council of Churches (WCC) Assemblies held in Evanston, USA (1954) and Uppsala, Sweden (1968).

He served as the President of the National Council of Churches in India (NCCI) and various other Indian ecumenical organisations.

Dr Mathews George Chunakara, the General Secretary of the CCA, expressed condolences on behalf of Asian churches and the Asian ecumenical movement and stated, “Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Metropolitan was a unique gift of God and his contributions to the church and society are unparalleled in recent ecclesiastical and ecumenical history.”

“Mar Chrysostom was an ardent supporter and promoter of wider ecumenism and the Asian ecumenical movement. The insights and innovative ideas he had contributed to the East Asia Christian Conference (EACC), the forerunner of CCA, helped the EACC/CCA immensely in its formative years. His active participation in different committees of the CCA, especially in the Church and Society programme, was most encouraging and beneficial in enabling the CCA in its early years to build up and articulate its theological positions and missiological convictions,” added Dr Mathews George Chunakara.

The funeral will be held in a special cemetery at the Mar Thoma Church’s headquarters in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India, on Thursday, 6 May 2021.

The full text of the CCA General Secretary's Condolence Message can be found here: