Antony Thachuparambil (8 December 1894 – 9 June 1963), popularly known as ''the Missionary of Chelakkara'' was an Indian Syro-Malabar Catholic priest and

social reformer A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

who worked in

Chelakkara Chelakkara is a small town in Thrissur district of Kerala. Geography Chelakkara is located at . It has an average elevation of . Politics Chelakkara assembly constituency (SC) is part of Alathur (Lok Sabha constituency), Alathur. It is also th ...

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

District,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. A candidate for sainthood, he was declared a

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

in 2009.

Early years

Antony Thachuparambil was born on 8 December 1894 in Kottat, a suburban village of

Chalakudy Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls. ...

to Poulose and Rosa. He had his early schooling in Chalakudy Government High School and college education in

St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli (SJC) is a Catholic college in Tamil Nadu, India. It was established in 1844 by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and it is regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions in India. It was affiliated wi ...

. He continued his pastoral education at Mary Matha Major Seminary,

and was ordained on 22 Dec 1924.

Social career

Thachuparambil started his career in 1928 as the first Chaplain of

, a backward forest area in

. There, he worked among the poor and he built St. Mary's Forane Church, a school for girls (Little Flower Girls High School), a destitute home for children which was later renamed ''Fr. Antony Balabhavan'', a convent for nuns, Little Flower Convent and a health clinic which later grew to become Jeevodaya Mission Hospital.

Canonization

Thachuparambil is said to be credited with several

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s which are being considered and verified by Roman Catholic Church. His contributions for the overall development of Chelakkara, reportedly irrespective of the caste, creed or colour, were considered by the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

when deciding upon initiation of his

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of ...

process. Paul Pulikkan was appointed the

postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Roman Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Obse ...

and as the first step towards canonization, Antony Thachuparambil was declared

by the

on 9 December 2009. In December 2020, the diocese court completed the formalities and prepared an 8090-page document detailing the priest's life and works, to be submitted to the

In the media

Shalom Television aired a documentary on the life of Thachuparambil as an episode under their series, ''Saints Town'' in 2015.

References

External links