Baselios Cleemis
Major Archbishop and Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Baselios Cleemis (born 15 June 1959) is the current Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
At the time of his elevation, he was the youngest member of the College of Cardinals and the first cardinal from the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. On 31 January 2013, he was named a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He served as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India from 2014 to 2018, and is currently the president of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council.
Early life
Baselios Cleemis was born on 15 June 1959 as Isaac Thottumkal (alternatively spelled as Thottunkal) in Mukkoor, a small village close to Mallappally town in Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala in South India. His parents are Mathew and Annamma Thottumkal. The Thottumkal (Powathikunnel Thottumkal) family is a part of the Pakalomattom family, which is an ancient Saint Thomas Christian family in Kerala.
Education
After graduating with BA. Economics from SB College Changanassery, he attended the Minor Seminary Formation in Tiruvalla from 1976 to 1979. He received a B.Phil.
“Baselios Cleemis” enters the record as major Archbishop and Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Baselios, Cleemis and Major can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27180. VIAF identifies the subject as 39325013. The Library of Congress control number is nr2004006953. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1959, 2012, 2013 and 2014.
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This entry incorporates text from “Baselios Cleemis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.