Rev. Dr. John Kochuthundil is appointed the Rector of the Malankara Major Seminary

Posted by webmaster in Syro Malankara Catholic Church, Trivandrum Major ArchdioceseApr 1st, 2010 | No Comments

Trivandrum: Major Archbishop Moran Mor Baselios Clemis Catholicos appointed Rev Dr. John Kochuthundil of the Major Archieparchy of Trivandrum, the new rector of St. Mary’s Malankara Seminary, Trivandrum. At present he serves as the Chancellor of the Major Archieparchy and the Vice-chancellor of the Major Archiepiscopal Curia and also the Rector of St.Mary’s Baselica, Palayam.
Fr. John joined the St. Aloysius Minor Seminary, Pattom and completed his priestly training in the Pontifical Seminary, Alwye. He was ordained a priest on 22 December 1985. He started his priestly career as Secretary to Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios till 1992. He had secured a Master’s Degree in Malayalam Literature from University of Kerala and Doctorate in Oriental Canon Law from Oriental Institute, Rome. He had served as judge in the Archdiocesean Court of New York, USA for 2 years. Then he was appointed as the Rector of St Aloysius Minor Seminary, Pattom. He served in the post till 2006. He also served as the vicar of several parishes in and around Trivandrum. He has authored several articles and books on Canon Law. He is the general Co-ordinator of the Drafting Committee for Particular Law of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Being a lyricist, he wrote many famous Christian devotional songs in which, “Snehaswaroopa thavadharshanam” and “Nayaka jeeva dhayaka” are very popular.
The new appointment is done when the present Rector Rt. Rev. Thomas Thannikkakuzhy completed his tenure.

Nine seminarians received the Minor Order ‘maudyono’

Posted by webmaster in Trivandrum Major ArchdioceseMar 30th, 2009 | 2 Comments

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Nine seminarians received the Minor Order ‘maudyono’ from Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, the Major Archbishop of tthe Major Archieparchy of Trivandrum on 30th March,2009 at St. Aloysius Minor Seminary, Nalanchira.

Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Panicker dead

Posted by webmaster in Trivandrum Major ArchdioceseDec 28th, 2008 | No Comments

Rev Dr Geevarghese Panicker, noted educationist and principal of Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, for 18 years, died on Sunday. He was 85.

He died of age-related illnesses at 9.15 a.m. at a private hospital in Kollam.

The body of Geevarghese Panicker was taken to Paranthal, his native place, on Sunday evening.   The funeral will be held at the St George Malankara Catholic Church, Paranthal, Adoor, at 2 p.m. on Monday. Catholicos Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, will lead the funeral services.

Dr Geevarghese Panicker earned his Masters degree from the Kerala University and his doctorate from the Catholic University, Washington DC. He started his teaching career as English lecturer at Mar Ivanios College. In 1959, he became the college vice-principal and two years later became principal – a post he held upto 1979.

Famous personalities like Justice J. B. Koshy, K. Jayakumar IAS, Jagathi Sreekumar, T. M. Jacob, G. Venugopal were students of Fr. Panicker.

Those 18 years were memorable ones for the college. Many of today’s important figures from different walks of life – politics to literature to art and culture – number among his students.

Geevarghese Panicker was born to K.G. Thomas Panicker and Achiyamma on March 31, 1924. After his schooling, he joined the St Aloysius Minor Seminary under the Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese. He completed the training at the Kandy Papal Seminary, Sri Lanka, and was ordained in 1949.

After his retirment from Mar Ivanios College, Geevarghese Panicker  served as rector at the St Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Aluva, and then for two years, as rector of the St Mary’s Malankara Seminary, Thiruvananthapuram. In 1987, he took charge as dean of studies at the St Ephraem Institute, Kottayam. He was leading a retired life in Kollam in recent years.

Fr. Panicker died on the same day as his father, Thomas Panicker, did 30 years ago.

 

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