Head of Kerala-based Syro Malankara Catholic Church Major, Archbishop Baselios Mar Cleemis was elevated on Wednesday to the status of Cardinal by the Vatican.Pope Benedict XIV made the declaration elevating 53-year-old Cleemis as Cardinal. 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.