Stage set for church head's birthday celebrations
Stage set for church head's birthday celebrations
Dubai: More than 5,000 church members from all over the emirates are expected to attend the 90th birthday celebrations of Dr Philipose Mar Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan, which will be held in Dubai today.
The Parishes of the Mar Thoma Church in the UAE will be handing over their donation for the Navathy Home Project, an ambitious project of constructing 3,000 houses for the homeless, undertaken by the Church in connection with the Valiya Metropolitan's 90th birthday celebrations.
The felicitation meeting will be presided over by Dr Zacharias Mar Theophilus Suffragan Metropolitan and attended by Mathew T. Thomas, Transport Minister of Kerala, R.C. Nair, Indian Consul, and businessmen Yousuf Ali M.A., Sunny Varkey and B.R. Shetty.
Jobi Joshua, general convener, and a member of the global committee for the Gulf for the project, said providing homes for the homeless was the dream of the Valiya Metropolitan.
He said: "He is our supreme head and he has completed 90 years. He is one of the longest serving bishops in an Indian church. His name has also been sent to the Guinness Book of World Records. It was his ambition to construct 3,000 houses for the poor and needy irrespective of caste or creed."
The nonagenarian bishop stepped down from office on October 1, 2007, and handed over the responsibilities to his successor Dr Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan.
The Mar Thoma Church designated Mar Chrysostom as Mar Thoma Valiya Metropolitan on October 2. Joshua said over Rs25 million (about Dh2.5 million) was collected from the six Mar Thoma churches in the UAE alone.
"We have already constructed 800 houses and the remaining are under construction. The keys will be handed over to the owners of the house on the concluding session of the celebration, which is on April 27, 2008."
A documentary, titled Kanivin Niravil, on the life of Mar Chrysostom Valiya Metropolitan, prepared by the Publicity Committee, and a souvenir in commemoration of the occasion will be released on Friday.
