Geevarghese Mar Osthathios (9 December 1918 – 16 February 2012) was a senior bishop of the

Indian Orthodox Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. It serves India's ...

. He was the metropolitan of the

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diocese from1975–2007. He was a theologian, orator and writer.

Childhood and Education

He was born on 9 December 1918, to Kochitty and Mariamma Kochitty of Mundolil family in Mavelikara. He obtained his B.D from Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, M.A from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey, United States. It has a wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three schools. While affiliated with the Methodism, Me ...

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and his S.T.M (Masters of Sacred Theology) from Union Seminary, New York.

Priesthood

He received the order of Korooyo (reader) from Metropolitan Augen Mar Timotheos on 9 August 1947 and his priesthood from Baselios Geevarghese II, Catholicos on 10 May 1956. He was nominated to the post of Metropolitan by the Malankara Association which met at

on 2 October 1974. Metropolitan Daniel Mar Philexinos ordained him as a Ramban, at St. Mary's Cathedral Puthencavu. He was consecrated as a bishop by Baselios Augen I, Catholicos of the East on 16 February 1975, at Niranam Valiya Palli. He was appointed as the Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese on 1 April 1975. He died on 16 February 2012.

Other positions

He was the member of Faith and Order Commission of 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, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

. He was a faculty member of the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam. His knowledge in Old Testament and way of interpreting the theological aspects on Holy Trinity is worth mentioning. President of the Mission Board of the Indian Orthodox Church and the Director of St. Paul's Mission Training Centre, Mavelikara. He is the founder of a good number of charitable programmes, mission centers and institutions which include Marriage Assistance Foundation, Sick Aid Foundation, Save A Heart Foundation, House Building Aid Fund, Mission Training Centre, M.G.D Ashram Balabhavan Karunagiri, St. Paul's Asram Puthuppady, Haripad Mission Centre, Yacharam St. Gregorios Balagram, Bethanya Bhavan, St. George Balikagram Pune, etc.

Distinctions

Orders

In September 1967, while visiting

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

as part of a delegation from Malankara Orthodox Church, he was awarded the

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine the Great, Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev, Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of ...

Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow Patriarch Alexy I (Alexius I, , secular name Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky, ; – 17 April 1970) was the 13th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) between 1945 and 1970. Life Born in Moscow to a noble ...

Publications

#Theology of a Classless Society #Sharing God and a sharing world #The sin of being rich in a poor world: Holy Trinity and social justice

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osthathios, Geevarghese Mar 1918 births 2012 deaths Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church bishops 20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops 21st-century Oriental Orthodox bishops Leonard Theological College alumni