Joshua Mar Ignathios
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Joshua Mar Ignathios (born 24 May 1950) is the
Eparch Eparchy ( gr, ἐπαρχία, la, eparchía / ''overlordship'') is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity, that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. Eparchy is governed by an ''eparch'', who is a bishop. Depending on t ...
of the Eparchy of Mavelikara of the
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...
in the state of
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
.


Family history and childhood

He was born at Kottarakara,
Kollam district Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Laccadive Sea seaport and an in ...
as the son of Oommen Varghese and Annamma Varghese. He had his primary education at the St. Mary's School, Kizhaketheruvu, and he completed his secondary education at the Government High School, Kottarakkara, in 1967.


Training and ordination

He joined
St. Aloysius Seminary, Trivandrum St. Aloysius Minor Seminary is the first minor seminary of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in Trivandrum, Kerala, India. It is situated at Kesavadasapuram, Trivandrum. This Seminary was founded by the founder of the reunion movement Servant ...
, in 1967, and completed his pre-degree at
Mar Ivanios College Mar Ivanios College is an autonomous educational institution situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The college was ranked as 29th best college in the country by Ministry of Education's National Institutional Ranking Framework in 2019 ...
, Trivandrum. He had his philosophy and theology training at St. Joseph's Seminary,
Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
,
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, from 1970–78. He was ordained as a priest on 2 April 1978 by the Metropolitan Archbishop
Benedict Mar Gregorios Benedict Mor Gregorios (1 February 1916 – 10 October 1994) was the second metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Life Gregorios or "Thangalathil Thirumeni" was born and raised in the Malankara Orthodox Church in Kalloo ...
. He served in the parishes at Kirathoor, Manjathoppu, Vimalapuram, add Susaipuram from 1978 to 1983. He graduated from Christian College, Marthandom, Tamil Nadu, and secured his master's degree from Madurai Kamaraj University, Tamil Nadu, in 1984. He took Bachelor's and master's degrees in Education from Kamaraj University, Madurai in 1985 and 1987 respectively. He did research on "Leadership, Organizational Health with School Effectiveness" in Stella Matituna College of Education, Chennai and obtained a
Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
from the University of Madras in 2000. Br Publishing Corporation published his doctoral thesis, ''School Effectiveness Through Leadership Style & Organizational Health'' in 2003.


Mission work

He was appointed vicar of the mission stations at Padi, Perampur, and Thiruvottiyoor in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in 1983. He started the Mar Ivanios Dispensary and founded the Sacred Heart School, serving as its principal from its inception. In 1994, he established the Mar Gregorios College and served as its local manager until 1996.


Appointed and elected offices

In May 1996 he was appointed Vicar General of the Archieparchy of Trivandrum. He was made Corepiscopo in 1997. On 15 April 1998 he was appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archieparchy of Trivandrum by Pope
John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
. Metropolitan Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios ordained him bishop with the name Joshua Mar Ignathios on 29 June 1998. Metropolitan Mar Ignathios was the Vice Chairman of the Labour Movement of the Kerala Catholic Bishop's Conference (KCBC) from 1998-2000. He served as its Chairman for 2002–2007. He was elected the Secretary of the KCBC and served the Church of Kerala in this capacity from 2000–2002. In December 2007 he was elected the Vice President of the KCBC. He has held the chairmanship of the Labour Commission of the Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) since 2002. Metropolitan Mar Ignathios became the President of the KCBC due to the demise of its previous president Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil on 26 October 2009. The Holy Episcopal Synod of the
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church possessing self-governance under the Code of Ca ...
elected him the first Metropolitan of the newly erected eparchy of Mavelikkara. The inauguration of the new eparchy and the installation of Mar Ignathios as its Metropolitan took place on 16 February 2007.


Other activities

Metropolitan Mar Ignathios was an active member of the Nilackal Ecumenical Trust. Along with the Bishops of the Episcopal Churches, He made several
ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...
journeys and visited many international pilgrim centres. He also visited the
World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...
centre at Geneva and attended an international conference organized by that group, and has attended other international conferences organized by the CBCI and the Holy See.


References


Sources


Joshua Mar Ignathios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ignathios, Joshua 1950 births Living people Syro-Malankara bishops Christian clergy from Kerala 20th-century Eastern Catholic bishops 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops People from Kollam district Madurai Kamaraj University alumni