Former Assyrian Church of the East Leader in India Dies at 85

Mar Aprem Metropolitan, who had led the Assyrian Church of the East in India for five decades, died July 7 following a brief hospitalization for age-related ailments in Thrissur, Kerala. He was 85.

Born as George Mookken on June 13, 1940, in Thrissur, which was then part of the Kingdom of Cochin under British India, Mar Aprem pursued his education in India, England, and America. He specialized in Church History, earning master’s degrees from the United Theological College in Bangalore and the Union Theological Seminary in New York. He studied theology at Leonard Theological College in Jabalpur and was ordained a deacon on June 25, 1961, and a priest on June 13, 1965.

Consecrated a bishop on September 21, 1968, by Mar Thoma Darmo, Catholicos Patriarch of the Ancient Church of the East, he was later promoted to Metropolitan of the Ancient Church of the East in Baghdad just eight days later. In 1999, he rejoined the Assyrian Church of the East and played a key role in resolving a long-standing rift over hereditary appointments since the 1960s.

Mar Aprem was a prominent figure in Thrissur, known for promoting religious harmony and delivering speeches that combined fun with wisdom, earning him a wide following in Kerala. He also served as the head of the Chaldean Syrian Church in India for about five decades.

He authored approximately 65 books, including a Syriac translation of Daiva Dashakam, a prayer written by the social reformer Narayana Guru in 1914. The poem presents a universal, compassionate concept of God rooted in Advaita philosophy and was recommended by the Kerala government in 2009 as the national prayer of India. It has been translated into at least 100 languages.

Mar Aprem also led the St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, which collaborated with the Kerala government and the Central Government on various initiatives. The funeral and other rituals will be decided after consulting with Church leaders in Iraq, according to Church sources in Thrissur.

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