 In 1757, as part of a play to assert his authority and autonomy in the Syriac Orthodox Church, Mar Thoma V consecrated his nephew as coadjutor bishop and named him his successor, in contradiction to the wishes of the Syriac Orthodox hierarchy.Upon Mar Thoma V's death in 1765, the younger Pakalomattom was ordained as Metropolitan on 8 May, taking the name Mar Thoma VI.As with his predecessors as Metropolitan going back to the first, Mar Thoma I, Mar Thoma VI's critics charged that his succession, and therefore his position, was invalid.