Indian priests line-up to save lives as kidney donors

Fr. Davis Chiramel of Kerala, India set the trend for 15 other religious leaders, including a bishop and a nun, to save lives by becoming kidney donors.

According to TheNEWSMinute (TNM), most of the organ recipients happened to be non-Christians.

The founder of Kidney Federation of India also reportedly receives hundreds of people willing to become kidney donors.

"I had gone through the medical history of at least ten people who had donated kidney earlier, and had seen the downloaded videos of transplant surgeries. I was fully convinced that kidney donation does not cause any health issues,'' The Times of India quoted Fr. Chiramel as saying.

Bishop Mar Jacob Muricken of the Syro-Malabar Eastern church said he took inspiration from Fr. Chiramel's act years ago and realized that becoming a kidney donor himself led him to act on Pope Francis' call to love each other regardless of caste or religion, especially in the Holy Year of Mercy.

Bishop Muricken donated his kidney to E Sooraj, a 30-year-old lower caste Hindu man from Kottakal in southern India, two months ago.

"I believe this should be a strong message for people around me, to be open to donate organs," said the auxiliary bishop of Pala Diocese on NDTV, as reported by Christian Today.

"I am inspired by Father Chiramel who once donated his kidney seven years ago," Bishop Muricken added.

Sister Chaitanya also donated her kidney to a 40-year-old man.

Fr. Chiramel became the first priest in the world to donate an organ when he donated his kidney to a 46-year-old electrician, Thekkemadathil Gopinathan in 2009. The family man, who claims to be "completely happy" now and back to a normal life again, said he initially hesitated on accepting the priest's offer then but only got persuaded by his friends and Fr. Chiramel's own determination.

"How can I make a priest, who is engaged in many other social service activities, suffer for me? This was my thinking then," shared Gopinathan.

Fr. Chiramel also announced he donated his cadaver body for scientific study at Thrissur Medical College Hospital.