Geevarghese Mar Osthathios (9 December 1917 – 16 February 2012) was a senior bishop of the

Indian Orthodox Church The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (MOSC) also known as the Indian Orthodox Church (IOC) or simply as the Malankara Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church headquartered in Devalokam, near Kottayam, India. The church serves ...

. He was the metropolitan of the

Niranam Niranam is a village in Tiruvalla, Kerala, India. It was a port in ancient Kerala, on the confluence of the Manimala River, Manimala and Pamba River. It is almost 7 km from Tiruvalla SCS Junction in Pathanamthitta District of Kerala, lies t ...

diocese from1975–2007. He was a theologian, orator and writer.

Childhood and Education

He was born on 9 December 1917 to Kochitty and Mariamma Kochitty of Mundolil family in Mavelikara. He obtained his B.D from Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur, M.A from

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

Madison, New Jersey Madison is a borough in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 16,937. Located along the Morris & Essex Lines, it is noted for Madison's historic railroad station becoming one ...

and his S.T.M from Union Seminary, Bangalore.

Priesthood

He received the order of Korooyo (reader) from Metropolitan Augen Mar Timotheos on 9 August 1947 and his priesthood from

Baselios Geevarghese II Moran Mor Baselios Geevarghese II of the Malankara Church (16 June 1874 – 3 January 1964). Third Catholicos of the East in Malankara and 16th Malankara Metropolitan, was born to Ulahannan and Naithi of the Kallaserri family in Kurichi, Kot ...

, Catholicos on 10 May 1956. He was nominated to the post of Metropolitan by the Malankara Association which met at

on 2 October 1974. Metropolitan Daniel Mar Philexinos ordained him as a Ramban at St. Mary's Cathedral Puthencavu. He was consecrated as a bishop by

Baselios Augen I Baselios Augen I was the 17th Malankara Metropolitan and fourth Catholicos of the East in Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Early days and education He was born on 26 June 1884 at Puthencruz, Ernakulam district of the Indian state of Kerala ...

, Catholicos of the East on 16 February 1975 at Niranam Valiya Palli. He was appointed as the Metropolitan of the Niranam Diocese on 1 April 1975. He died on February 16, 2012.

Other positions

He was the member of

Faith and Order Commission The Faith and Order Commission is an assembly group within the World Council of Churches founded in 1948 which has made numerous and significant contributions to the ecumenical movement. The commission has been successful in working toward cons ...

of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, most juri ...

. He was a faculty member of the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam. His knowledge in Old Testament and way of interpreting the theological aspects on Holy Trinity is worth mentioning. President of the Mission Board of the Indian Orthodox Church and the Director of St. Paul's Mission Training Centre, Mavelikara. He is the founder of a good number of charitable programmes, mission centers and institutions which include Marriage Assistance Foundation, Sick Aid Foundation, Save A Heart Foundation, House Building Aid Fund, Mission Training Centre, M.G.D Ashram Balabhavan Karunagiri, St. Paul's Asram Puthuppady, Haripad Mission Centre, Yacharam St. Gregorios Balagram, Bethanya Bhavan, St. George Balikagram Pune, etc.

Distinctions

Orders

In 1967 September, while visiting

Russian Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = ru , image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg , imagewidth = , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia , abbreviation = ROC , type ...

as part of a delegation from Malankara Orthodox Church, he was awarded the

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow Patriarch Alexy I (Alexius I, russian: Патриарх Алексий I, secular name Sergey Vladimirovich Simansky, russian: Серге́й Влади́мирович Сима́нский; – 17 April 1970) was the 13th Patriarch of Moscow ...

Publications

#Theology of a Classless Society #Sharing God and a sharing world #The sin of being rich in a poor world: Holy Trinity and social justice

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Osthathios, Geevarghese Mar 1918 births 2012 deaths Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church bishops 20th-century Oriental Orthodox bishops 21st-century Oriental Orthodox bishops Leonard Theological College alumni