Just days into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has approved the advancement of three figures toward sainthood, including Indian bishop Mathew Makil. The announcement came Thursday via Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, head of the Vatican’s department overseeing causes for canonisation. Alongside Makil, Colombian nun Agnese Arango Velásquez and Spanish bishop Alessandro Labaka Ugarte were also declared Venerables.

Mar Mathew Makil, who was declared a Servant of God in 2009, was widely recognised as a unifier. He mediated tensions between the “northerners,” who traced their Christian lineage to St. Thomas, and the “southerners,” who identified with Mesopotamian Christian ancestry. His proposal to divide the Changanacherry vicariate into two to ensure pastoral harmony was accepted by Pope Pius X in 1911, creating the Kottayam vicariate for the “southerners” with Makil as its leader.

Born in Manjoor, Kottayam, Makil became a priest at just 14 in 1865. By 1889, he rose to the position of vicar general of Kottayam. In 1892, he established the Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, focused on the education of girls.

He was appointed titular bishop of Trallus and vicar apostolic of Changanacherry in 1896, and consecrated in Kandy by Monsignor Zaleski. Mar Makil’s legacy includes securing state approval for St Berchmans School, fostering religious education, forming lay associations, alleviating poverty, and encouraging religious vocations—all in spite of financial hardship.