Joseph Mar Thoma XXI (27 June 1931 – 18 October 2020) ( syr, ܡܺܝܛܪܳܦܽܠܶܝܬܳܐ ܕܟܽܘܪܣܝܳܐ ܫܠܺܝܚܳܝܳܐ ܕܡܰܠܰܒܰܪ ܐܰܒܽܘܢ ܝܰܘܣܶܝܦ ܡܳܪܝ̱ ܬܳܐܘܡܳܐ܀) was the 21st

Mar Thoma Syrian Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

Metropolitan and the church’s primate.

Early days

Palakunnathu family

In the seventeenth century Kerala, a member of the Panamkuzhy house of Kuruvalingadu, Kuruvilla came and settled in

Kozhencherry Kozhencherry ( ml, കോഴഞ്ചേരി) is a census town in Pathanamthitta district of Central Travancore region (South Central Kerala) in Kerala state, India. census, the population was 433,357 people in 92,825 households. History Kozh ...

on the banks of river Pampa. Later, he and his three sons moved to

Maramon Maramon is a small town on the Pampa River, in Thiruvalla Sub-District & Taluk opposite to Kozhencherry in the state of Kerala, India. It is 16 km from the Thiruvalla Town headquarters, the town of Thiruvalla. Maramon Convention Mar ...

and lived at Chackkalyil on the other side of the river. The second son's second son in that family, Mathen, moved to a nearby house at Palakunnathu. He had six sons and two daughters. The daughter was married to the Mallapally Pavoothikunnel family, and the first four sons moved to Themoottil, Neduvelil (

Kozhenchery Kozhencherry ( ml, കോഴഞ്ചേരി) is a census town in Pathanamthitta district of Central Travancore region (South Central Kerala) in Kerala state, India. census, the population was 433,357 people in 92,825 households. History Koz ...

), Periyilel, and Punamadom (Othera). The fifth son was a celibate priest (sanyasi achen). As was the custom, the youngest son Mathew lived at Palakunnathu family house and married Pandanattu Mullasseril Mariamma, this house still exists.

Abraham Malpan Palakunnathu Abraham Malpan (പാലകുന്നത്ത് അബ്രഹാം മൽപ്പാൻ), (30 May 1796 – 9 September 1845) was an Indian cleric and theologian known for the Reformation movement within the Malankara ...

, a leader of reformation in Malankara church was the second son of Mathew and Mariamma. Mar Thoma XIII was his

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

, his older brother's son.

Thomas Mar Athanasius Metropolitan Thomas Mar Athanasius (Mar Thoma XIV) aka Thomas Thirumeni (7 October 1836 – 10 August 1893) was the Malankara Metropolitan of the autonomous Malankara Syrian Church faction of Malankara, from 1877 to 1893. The first son of prominent Sy ...

(Mar Thoma XIV) and Titus I Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XV) were the sons of

. A number of other

Malankara Church The Malankara Church, also known as ''Puthenkur'' and more popularly as Jacobite Syrians, is the historic unified body of West Syriac Saint Thomas Christian denominations which claim ultimate origins from the missions of Thomas the Apostle. ...

and

Marthoma Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

leaders were also born in this family.

, Mathews Mar Athanasius Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XIII),

(Mar Thoma XIV) and

Titus II Mar Thoma Titus II Mar Thoma Metropolitan (Mar Thoma XVI) (6 May 1866 – 6 July 1944) was the head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church with its center in Kerala state in south-western India. He was known as Thithoos Dwitheeyan Mar Thoma Metropoli ...

were from this family. Joseph Mar Thoma (Mar Thoma XXI), is also from this family.

Early life

P.T. Joseph was born on 27 June 1931, as the son of Palakunnathu T. Lukose of

Palakunnathu Kadon House and Mariamma, of Nedumpriyattu, Maramon Puthoor House. After his education at Maramon and

, he joined

Union Christian College, Aluva Union Christian College, Aluva (known as UC College) is a college affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. It is one of the earliest colleges in India to be established and managed by Indian Christians. It was founded in 1921 by four ...

where he played for the college basketball team.

Ordination

Joseph always wanted an academic career, but when he was called to take up theological studies he readily accepted it. So, in 1954, he joined the United Theological College,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, Karnataka, India and obtained a

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

degree. He was ordained as

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

of the Mar Thoma Church on 29 June 1957, and ''kasseessa'' (priest) on 18 October 1957. He then continued his studies at the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in Virginia, United States. From there he went to Canterbury and Oxford in England and obtained

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

(M.Div.) and

Master of Sacred Theology The Master of Sacred Theology ( la, Sacrae Theologiae Magister; abbreviated STM) is a graduate-level, North American, academic degree in theology equivalent to ThM. The Roman Catholic equivalent is the Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL). An ho ...

(STM) degrees. He was later awarded an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

degree by the Virginia Seminary where he studied.

Consecration

Realizing the need for more bishops for the

Mar Thoma Church The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian ChurchS. N. Sadasivan. A Social History of India'. APH Publishing; 2000. . p. 442. and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar ...

, the Church Mandalam (representative assembly) in 1974, decided to consecrate two more bishops. The Rev. P.T. Joseph was one of those who were selected. He was ordained as Ramban on 11 January 1975.

Episcopa

On 8 February 1975,

Juhanon Mar Thoma Juhanon Mar Thoma XVIII Metropolitan (7 August 1894 – 27 September 1976) was the Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1949–1976, who gave leadership to the church and at the same time actively participated in social ...

, Metropolitan, assisted by the other bishops of the church ordained the Rev. P.T. Joseph and was given the episcopal title of Joseph Mar Irenaeus. Rev. V.T. Koshy, Easow Mar Timotheos, was also ordained on the same day.

Suffragan metropolitan

He was designated as suffragan metropolitan on 15 March 1999, when

Philipose Mar Chrysostom Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma XX Valiya Metropolitan, (born Philip Oommen; 27 April 1918 – 5 May 2021) was an Indian prelate who served as Metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church from 1999-2007 and Valiya Thirumeni (Metropol ...

, the suffragan metropolitan, was designated as the officiating metropolitan.

Metropolitan

Malankara throne

After the swearing-in of 1653 it became necessary to appoint a bishop. For this purpose, a special chair was made and

Mar Thoma I Mar Thoma I, also known as Valiya Mar Thoma (''Mar Thoma the Great'') and Arkkadiyokkon Thoma (''Archdeacon Thomas'') in Malayalam and Thomas de Campo in Portuguese was the first native-born, popularly-selected Metropolitan bishop of the 17t ...

the first bishop of Malankara Church was enthroned. This throne, used for the consecration of Mar Thoma I, is in the possession of the Mar Thoma Church and is kept at

Tiruvalla Thiruvalla, alternately spelled Tiruvalla, is a town in Kerala and the Headquarters of the Taluk of the same name located in Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of . It lies on the banks of ...

. It has been used in the installation of every Mar Thoma metropolitan to this day so that the continuity of the throne of Mar Thoma is ensured. This was the throne used for the consecration of Mar Thoma XXI, Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan.

Enthronement

Joseph Mar Irenaeus was installed as Mar Thoma XXI Metropolitan on 2 October 2007 when the 20th Mar Thoma,

expressed his desire to transfer responsibilities of the church to his successor due to old age and deteriorating health. He continued as 'Valiya Metropolitan' or Metropolitan Emeritus. Most

Contributions

He was the President of the

National Council of Churches The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, usually identified as the National Council of Churches (NCC), is the largest ecumenical body in the United States. NCC is an ecumenical partnership of 38 Christian faith groups in the Uni ...

in India, Senior President of CCA, and the chairman of CASA. His activities included sanctions of building many socio-spiritual centers with monuments, like Tharangam - Mission Action Centre, which can also be used as the secondary venue for diocese activities which were before held adjacent to the spacious building near the Bishop House. Introduction of music and other attractive worship styles to target the younger generation (via DSMC studio, Blogs, Camps). Joseph Mar Thoma advocated protecting the environment. He has warned that atrocities to nature are suicidal and has urged people to take remedial measures by adopting responsible

green conservatism Green conservatism is a combination of conservatism with environmentalism. Environmental concern has been voiced by both conservative politicians and philosophers throughout the history of modern conservatism, with Edmund Burke (the philosophi ...

. He also personally campaigned for the protection of

Pampa River The Pamba River (also called Pampa River) is the longest river in the Indian state of Kerala after Periyar (river), Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile former princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple dedicat ...

on whose bed the famed Maramon Convention is hosted.

Ordination dates

Succession

Death

Joseph Mar Thoma died on 18 October 2020 at 2:38 AM as a result of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

References

External links

marthomachurch.in
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mar Thoma, Joseph 1932 births Mar Thoma Syrian Church People from Pathanamthitta district Saint Thomas Christians Malayali people Metropolitans of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church Pakalomattam family Christian clergy from Kerala 2020 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in India