Ignaci Siluvai (or ''Ignatius Siluvai'', also ''Siluvai Ignaci'') is an Indian priest and educator who established the Father Sebastian Educational and Charitable Trust and founded the Pastor Lenssen Polytechnic College (PLPC).

Early life and background

Ignaci Siluvai was born in Kuthenkully of the diocese of Tuticorin, in the civil district of

Tirunelveli Tirunelveli (), also known as Nellai and historically (during British rule) as Tinnevelly, is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirunelveli District. It is the fourth-largest munici ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. 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 Indi ...

, India on 5 June 1947. He was ordained a priest for the diocese of

Tuticorin Thoothukudi (formerly called Tuticorin) is a port industrial city in Thoothukudi district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It lies on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The city is capital and headquarters of the district. ...

on 22 July 1973. He obtained licentiate in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from the Faculty of Philosophy, bachelor in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

from the Faculty of Theology and diploma in biblical

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

from the Faculty of Letters of

Catholic University Catholic higher education includes universities, colleges, and other institutions of higher education privately run by the Catholic Church, typically by religious institutes. Those tied to the Holy See are specifically called pontifical univers ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, Belgium (1966–1973) and obtained a licentiate in Sacred Scripture and a doctorate from the

Pontifical Biblical Institute The Pontifical Biblical Institute (also known as Biblicum) is a research and postgraduate teaching institution specialised in biblical and ancient Near Eastern studies located in Rome. Founded in 1909 by Pope Pius X, it is an institution of the ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy (1975–1981).

Ministry and achievements

He has served as assistant parish priest and parish priest in various parishes in the diocese of Tuticorin, as secretary to bishop and assistant parish priest at the Cathedral (1973–1975), assistant director of St. Joseph's charity institute, Adaikalapuram and rector in-charge Christ Hall seminary, Karumathur (1982–1983), director of St. Ignatius Boys Home, Inigo Press, and St. Ignatius Industrial School, Tuticorin (1983–1987/1989?), parish priest of St. Ignatius Parish, Innaciarpuram (1984–1989) as well as a parish priest of St. Joseph's Church in Kuttapuly (1990/1991?–1995), a small

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

, where in 1991 he helped to build stone houses for the poor and in 1991/1992 built a larger school. Supported by

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

pastors

Ferdinand Lenßen Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

and Bernhard Kreutz, Siluvai moved to Germany in 1995, and worked as parish administrator in , and (1995–1996) as well as a pastor at in (

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km south-west ...

) (June 1996 – 2000) of the diocese Aachen before he moved back to India on 27/28 February 2000. For a long time Siluvai had a dream to uplift the rural youth in India knowing that education would be the only way to achieve the development of the youth personally at micro level and socially at a macro level. Aiming at this vision, he established the Father Sebastian Educational and Charitable Trust in 1997. Under this trust, he founded the Pastor Lenssen Polytechnic College on 31 January 1997. It is named after Ferdinand Lenßen, a former pastor of from Aachen as well as a friend and major supporter of the project, who had died a little bit earlier on 6 April 1996. It was partially opened in July 1999 and completed to suit 700 pupils on the 29 August 2001. He entrusted the administration to the

Salesians of Don Bosco The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

. On 2 August 2006 it was expanded to occupy up to 1000 pupils. At the end of December 1999 he was appointed as the national director of the

Pontifical Mission Societies The Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS), known in some countries as Missio, is the name of a group of Catholic missionary societies that are under the jurisdiction of the Pope. These organizations include the Society for the Propagation of th ...

(MISSIO) in India and continued as the director until 2011. He was conferred with Monsignor title (capellano del Santo Padre) on 16 November 2002. Later he worked in ,

Röthlein Röthlein is a municipality in the district of Schweinfurt in Bavaria, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps ...

, in the

diocese of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

(2011–2012) as well as a parish administrator in Bergheim,

Bürmoos Bürmoos is a municipality in the district of Salzburg-Umgebung in the state of Salzburg in Austria. History Bürmoos was founded in 1967, making it the most recently created municipality in the state, by combining the outskirts of the neighbour ...

(2012–August 2013). He was appointed as a priest in the parish of St. Martin in (

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

) (September 2013 – 2015) of the

archdiocese of Salzburg The Archdiocese of Salzburg (; ) is a Latin rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church centered in Salzburg, Austria. It is also the principal diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian archdioceses, ...

in Austria. At present he serves as the parish priest of Schwarzach in Pongau, Austria and as spiritual director in the Kardinal Schwarzenberg Hospital in Schwarzach im Pongau.

Early life and background

Ministry and achievements

See also

Notes

References

Further reading