HOME PAGE ARCHIVE

Mar Varkey Vithayathil, 84, a Redemptorist, bishop, cardinal and Major Archbishop for the Syro-Malabar Church (in India) died suddenly today of a heart attack at 2pm Ernakulam time. Cardinal Vithayathil was ordained a priest in 1954 and ordained a bishop in 1996. In 1999, he appointed the Major Archbishop by Pope John Paul II. The same pope created Vithayathil a cardinal in 2001 giving him the title of San Bernardo alle Terme.Trained in Canon Law at the Angelicum, Vithayathil taught the subject in the Redemptorist seminary. For a term he served as the Father Provincial of the Redemptorists of India and Sri Lanka and later serving as the Apostolic Administrator of a Benedictine abbey of monks. Cardinal Vithayathil was a supporter of the 5th Marian doctrine, that of Mary's role in salvation history as the co-redemptrix.

Diocese-Ernakulam-Angamaly

Predecessor-Mar Antony Padiyara

Other posts-Apostolic Administrator of the Benedictine 

Monastery in Bangalore (1990-1996)

Orders

Ordination-12 June 1954

Consecration-17 January 1997

Rank-Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme

Personal details

Born-29 May 1927

North Parur, Travancore

Died-1 April 2011 (aged 83)

Ernakulam, Kerala, India

Nationality-India

Denomination-Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

Parents-Justice Mr. Joseph Vithayathil

Mrs. Thresiamma Vazhapilly

Born of Thresiamma and Justice Joseph Vithayathil in Parur, India, he became a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), a religious order in the Roman Catholic Church, founded by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri in 1732. He was ordained as a priest in 1954. He holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome on "The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy". He taught for 25 years at the Redemptorist seminary in Bangalore. In 1972 he took his Master's Degree in Philosophy from Karnataka University. He also taught different subjects in several other seminaries in Bangalore.
Circular of Mar Bosco Puthur, Administrator of the Syro Malabar Church

HOME PAGE ARCHIVE

latest news