Kerala: Believers Church head KP Yohannan's mortal remains brought to Thiruvalla; funeral tomorrow

By Aishwarya Nair | First Published May 20, 2024, 10:59 AM IST

The mortal remains of Metropolitan Athanasius Yohan I (K P Yohannan), the supreme head of the Believers Eastern Church, were brought to Thiruvalla on Monday (May 20). He was critically injured in a car accident in the US and passed away due to a sudden cardiac arrest on Wednesday (May 08).

The mortal remains of Metropolitan Athanasius Yohan I (K P Yohannan), the supreme head of Believers Eastern Church, were brought to Kochi early Sunday morning. Church officials received the body at Cochin Airport around 3:30 a.m. Prayer ceremonies were conducted at a private property near the airport before the body was taken to the Church headquarters in Thiruvalla. The body was first taken to Niranam Church, the birthplace of the Metropolitan, from Kochi via Ambalapuzha. The funeral will be held on Tuesday (May 21) at 11 am.

Believers Eastern Church Metropolitan Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan (74), also known as KP Yohannan, who was critically injured in a car accident in the US, passed away due to a sudden cardiac arrest on Wednesday (May 08).

Tap to resize

Latest Videos

Tap to resize

"He passed away due to sudden cardiac arrest in a hospital in Dallas, Texas, where he had been receiving treatment since his accident," a Church official said.

K P Yohannan, born in 1950 in the village of Niranam near Thiruvalla, devoted his life to serving God after completing his high school education.

"In obedience to the Great Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ, he then spent the next eight years of his life proclaiming the gospel and doing charitable works in South Asia," a church document said.

After receiving theological training in the US during the 1970s, Yohannan established a missionary organization, which later evolved into one of the largest missionary and church-planting movements across numerous Asian countries.

On February 6, 2003, he was consecrated and promoted to the position of Metropolitan within the Believers Eastern Church.

Following the Orthodox Christian tradition, he adopted the name Athanasius Yohan, paying tribute to his revered patron saints, St. Athanasius, renowned for defending orthodoxy, and St. John (Yohan), the Apostle and Evangelist.

For more reliable and latest news