Cyriac K. Pullapilly (June 15, 1932 – December 17, 2017) was a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

, a former priest of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Church lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ , native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg , caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...

and a professor of history at Saint Mary's College, Indiana.

Biography

Cyriac Pullapilly was an only child, born in what is now

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 C ...

, India, on June 15, 1932. Raised by his mother, Anna, he was educated at St. Thomas College and St. Joseph's Pontifical Seminary before becoming an ordained priest in the Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on March 16, 1958. According to some source, the ordination was the culmination of his mother's ambitions for him, although others say that his parents were initially reluctant for him to enter the church. While attending the seminary, he wrote for a missionary publication called ''Home Field''. He also was part of the anti-communist movement in his college and wrote various publications critical of the communist government which controlled the legislature in his state. Pullapilly was awarded his PhD from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

and both he and his wife emigrated to the United States, raising their children in

South Bend, Indiana South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the fourt ...

. The filmmaker

Gita Pullapilly Gita Pullapilly is a Hollywood film and television director, screenwriter, producer, and author. She writes and directs with her husband and film partner, Aron Gaudet under their banner, "Team A + G, Inc." Life and career Gita Pullapilly co-w ...

is his daughter. In 1983, he founded the Semester Around the World Program, where

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

and Saint Mary's College, Indiana, students travelled the world and studied in India. Pullapilly had a multi-disciplinary approach to his studies and published works on a broad range of subjects. His research was supported by the

Fulbright Foundation The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, and in 2006 – the year in which he was admitted to the Royal Society of Arts – he held a visiting academic post at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He also established his own publishing company and produced an "inclusive-language" edition of the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. Based upon his founding of the Semester Around the World program, Pullapilly received the Spes Unica Award from Saint Mary's College for his outstanding service to the College in 2007. Pullapilly ended his academic career as an emeritus professor of history at Saint Mary's. He died on December 17, 2017.

Works

Books

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Articles

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullapilly, Cyriac K. University of Chicago alumni Academics of the University of Cambridge Saint Mary's College (Indiana) faculty Syro-Malabar priests American historians of religion Scholars from Kerala 1932 births 2017 deaths