The Orthodox Theological Seminary, also known as Old Seminary (Pazhaya Seminary) and M. D. Orthodox Seminary, is a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

of the

Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an Autocephaly, autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in #Catholicate ...

. It was founded in 1815 by priest-monk Pulikkottil Joseph Ittoop Ramban (later

Mar Dionysius II Mar Dionysius II, born Pulikkottil Joseph Ittoop (15 January 1742 – 24 November 1816) was 10th Malankara Metropolitan for nine months until his death on 24 November 1816. He dethroned Mar Thoma IX and succeeded him by the favour of Col.J ...

) with the help of Colonel John Munro to serve the

Malankara Syrian Church The Malankara Church, also known as Malankara Syrian Church, was the unified body of ''Puthankoottukar, Puthankur'' Saint Thomas Christians who claim origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. This community, under the leadership of ...

and to invite

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2, a programming language implemented for and used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum coll ...

missionaries to teach theology. At that time, deacons were ordained as priests without an organized theological education. After the arrival of CMS missionaries, theological education was organized for the priests. John Munro, the

British Resident A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of in ...

of the

Kingdom of Travancore The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as st ...

, offered his unreserved support for the initiative, and upon his insistence, the Queen of Travancore granted of tax-free land,

Rs. Rupee (, ) is the common name for the currencies of India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Afri ...

20,000 and the necessary timber for the construction of the Seminary. The work started in 1813, and the building was completed and classes began in March 1815. By Munro's invitation, the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

(C.M.S) missionaries arrived in Kerala to help as teachers in the seminary. For some years, the relationship between the missionaries and the Church was one of cordial co-operation. The missionaries taught the Bible and biblical languages in the Seminary. The early principals were Benjamin Bailey and Henry Baker. After some time, the relationship of the church with the later missionaries became strained as they wanted to introduce

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

doctrines in the church, which eventually led to disputes and litigation. The missionaries separated from the Malankara Church and established the Anglican Church in Kerala. The seminary was the residence and headquarters of the Malankara Metropolitan, the chief metropolitan of the

. It was also the previous Headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. It continued the programme of training ordinands. Eminent Malpans (teachers of theology and liturgy) rendered service to the institution. Some of the distinguished teachers included Abraham malpan, Gheevarghese Gregorios of Parumala,

Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril Geevarghese Dionysius Vattasseril, also Dionysius VI, Dionysius Geevarghese II or, popularly, Vattasseril Thirumeni (31 October 1858 – 23 February 1934), was a bishop of the Malankara Church and 15th Malankara Metropolitan. In 2003, Dio ...

, Konat Mathan Corepiscopa, Skaria Cheriamadam, Skaria Elavinamannil, Alexander Mattakkal, Augen Mar Timotheos (later

Baselios Augen I Baselios Augen I (26 June 1884 – 3 December 1975) was the 17th Malankara Metropolitan, the fourth Catholicos of the East in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. He was the first Catholicos consecrated in a reunified Malankara Church, by the ...

), V.K.Mathews (later

Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews I Baselios Marthoma Mathews I (27 March 1907 – 8 November 1996) was the primate of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as Indian Orthodox Church. He was the 5th catholicos of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and 18th Malankara M ...

), Philipose Theophilus and Paulos Gregorios. In 1942, the seminary was modernized. A systematised course of studies was introduced. A new generation of qualified professors of theology and biblical studies took responsibility for running the Seminary. Classes and students' residence were moved to the new buildings in the campus of the M.D. Seminary at Kottayam. When the Malankara Metropolitan moved his residence from the old seminary to the present site in Devalokam,

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 ...

, theological education was once again brought back to the old seminary. In 1964, the Seminary became affiliated to the

Serampore University The Senate of Serampore College (University) is an ecumenical regulatory and affiliating body for Christian theological education, which works in partnership with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological research institutes in the Indian subco ...

for its B.D. degree course. In 1965, the 150th year of its founding, was celebrated in the presence of ecclesiastical dignitaries and church leaders. The foundation stone of the new building was laid by

Vasken I Vazgen I also Vazken I of Bucharest (), born Levon Garabed Baljian (; September 20, 1908 – August 18, 1994) was the Catholicos of All Armenians between 1955 and 1994, for a total of 39 years, the 4th longest reign in the history of the Armenian ...

, Supreme Catholicos of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Etchmiadzin, on 23 December 1963 during his visit to the Malankara Syrian Church.

Patriarch Justinian of Romania Justinian Marina (; born Ioan Marina ; February 2, 1901 – March 26, 1977) was a Romanian Orthodox prelate. He was the third patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, serving between 1948 and 1977. Parish priest in the Râmnic Diocese I ...

, declared the new building open on 7 January 1969 during his visit to the Malankara Church. Other eminent visitors to the Seminary included Emperor

Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or '' Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (') under Empress Zewditu between 1916 and 1930. Wid ...

, Patriarch Pimen I of Moscow and all the Rus', Patriach Ilia II of Georgia and the

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I Bartholomew (born Dimitrios Archontonis, 29 February 1940) is the current Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople since 1991. In accordance with his title, he is regarded as the ''primus inter pares'' (first among equals) in the Eastern Orthodox ...

. The M. D. Orthodox Seminary, in an ecumenical collaboration with the C.S.I Seminary (KUT) Trivandrum and the Marthoma Seminary, Kottayam, runs the Master's and Doctoral programmes under the banner of the Federated Faculty for Research in Religion and Culture. On 21 April 2015, a postage stamp commemorating the 200 years of the Orthodox Theological Seminary was released by the Indian President

Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Kumar Mukherjee ( ; born, 11 December 1935 – 31 August 2020) was an Indian statesman who served as the president of India from 2012 until 2017. He was the first person from West Bengal to hold the post of President of India. In a pol ...

References

{{coord missing, West Bengal Malankara Orthodox Syrian church buildings Seminaries and theological colleges affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) 1815 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1815

See also

References