Mar Aloysius (Louis) Pazheparambil ( Pulinkunnoo, 25 March 1847 –

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

, 9 December 1919) was the Vicar Apostolic of

in the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Originally a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

of the Syrian Carmelites, he was expelled along with nine others in 1875 from the religious order by the local bishop for writing to the Pope asking for an Indian bishop to rule his church. Later in 1896, he became one of three Indian bishops appointed to rule over the three Vicariates Apostolic in his

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Early life and ordination

Aloysius Pazheparambil was born in Pulinkunnoo at Alleppey and joined the Carmelite order for Catholic Syrians in 1860. At that time, the local Catholic Thomas Christians were under the authority of a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

bishop. There were constant quarrels, because these Latin bishops had little understanding of the Thomas Christians. The Thomas Catholics eventually began agitating for their own bishop. Against this backdrop and to avoid such harmful future developments, a group of monks asked for a native bishop. Priest Aloysius Pazheparambil was the head and spokesman of this group and for his actions was, in 1875, expelled from the Carmelite order along with the others by Leonardo Mellano, the

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Churc ...

of Verapoly.IC Chacko, Illiparambil: Mar Pazheparambil Louis , Trivandrum, 1937

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

soon intervened, and in 1887 dissolved the episcopal structure then present and designated for them the Apostolic Vicariates of Trichur and

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

, headed by the Latin bishops Adolph Edwin Medlycott and Charles Lavigne. Both were respectful to the Thomas Christians and their rite, and with an open mind prepared the transition to local bishops. This finally happened in 1896 when Medlycott and Lavigne resigned from their Vicariates and the Pope reorganized the Vicariates to create Vicariate of Ernakulam. In that year came the first Syro-Malabar titular bishops, elevated as Vicars Apostolics to the dioceses. One of them, the Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam, was Pazheparambil.

Bishop and Vicar Apostolic

Aloysius Pazheparambil was one of the closest collaborators of the bishops Medlycott Adolph Edwin and Charles Lavigne. On 11 August 1896. he was made the titular bishop of Tymandus and Vicar Apostolic of the new diocese of Ernakulam. He was also made the Apostolic Delegate of India by Archbishop Ladislaus Zaleski on 25 October of that year, at his residence in Kandy (Sri Lanka). On 5 November 1896, Pazheparambil began the governing of his diocese, which he managed with great skill and zeal until his death in 1919. He was given the task of building all new diocesan structures as well as being tasked with allowing the native rite, after centuries of oppression, to unfold again. His epitaph, written by his episcopal successor Augustine Kandathil,Fr. George Thalian: , Bp. Louis Memorial Press, 1961 reads:

A Prelate specially devoted to the Blessed Virgin, simple in ways, frugal in habits, ever devoted to the interests of his Rite and Nation, steadfast of purpose, yet tactful in action, a scholar, a linguist, a historian, and a diplomat, he was a great Indian.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pazheparambil, Mar Aloysius 1847 births 1919 deaths Malayali people Christian clergy from Kottayam Saint Thomas Christians Syro-Malabar archbishops Syro-Malabar Catholic Archbishops of Ernakulam-Angamaly Founders of Indian schools and colleges 19th-century Indian educational theorists

Early life and ordination

Bishop and Vicar Apostolic

Further reading

Notes