Mar Aprem Metropolitan, the head of the Chaldean Syrian Church, passed away at the age of 85 on Monday. He was undergoing treatment at the Sun Medical and Research Centre in Thrissur.

Mar Augen Kuriakose Metropolitan had issued a medical bulletin the previous day, requesting believers to pray for Mar Aprem, as his condition was very critical.

He was receiving intermittent hemodialysis while in the ICU. A team of doctors led by senior nephrologist Dr T T Paul oversaw his treatment. 

The bishop was born on June 13, 1940, as the fourth son of Devasia and Kochumaria of the Mooken family in Thrissur. His birth name was George Davis Mookken. He was ordained into the priesthood on June 13, 1965.

Mar Aprem made significant contributions to the field of culture and literature. He authored over seventy books in both English and Malayalam, spanning genres such as travelogues, biographies and autobiographies, satire, and church history. He also composed numerous Christian devotional songs. One of his notable achievements includes translating Sree Narayana Guru's Daiva Daśakam into Syriac and presenting it on stage in Sharjah.