Head of Kerala-based Syro Malankara Catholic Church Major, Archbishop Baselios Mar Cleemis was today elevated to the status of Cardinal by the Vatican.Pope Benedict XIV made the declaration elevating 53-year-old Cleemis as Cardinal. He is among six new cardinals named from around the world to serve in an elite group of prelates who will one day select a new pope. The other new members of the Vatican's College of Cardinals hail from the United States, Lebanon, India, Nigeria, Colombia and the Philippines.Church sources said in Thiruvananthapuram that Cleemis is the first ever Cardinal of Malankara Catholic Church, one of the three Catholic rites in Kerala.Earlier this year, the Pope had made Mar George Alanchery of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church as Cardinal, as part of the conclave that elects the Pope.