Indian Church mourns media tycoon’s death

(August 02, 2010) Catholic leaders in Kerala state, southern India, have expressed their sorrow at the death of media mogul K.M. Mathew, saying the Church in the state has lost a “visionary and friend.” Mathew, who ran the Malayala Manorama group of publications for 37 years, died aged 93 in Kottayam on August 1 following a brief illness. “He was more than a media tycoon. Mathew influenced opinion makers in the state. The Church has lost a great friend and visionary,” said Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, head of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church. Mathew, a Malankara Syrian Orthodox, was known for his opposition of communism. He and his publications fought against communist polices for many years, some Church leaders said. Mathew gave a “new direction to the Malayalam [the local language] newspaper industry,” said Major Archbishop Baselios Mar Cleemis of the Malankara Church. “More than a media tycoon, he took a keen interest in the development of Kerala. He was a great humanist who was always sympathetic toward the poor.” People across religious and political divides paid tribute to the departed journalist, who held several national positions such as head of the Press Trust of India. Indian president Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and several federal and state ministers hailed Mathew as a dynamic journalist. Mathew was a “leading light of the Indian press fraternity” and “a champion of the highest traditions in Indian journalism,” Singh said. Malayala Manorama, which began in 1890, is now a media group that has 47 other publications.