Mar Thomas Elavanal (born 28 March 1950) is a
Syro Malabar Catholic
lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
, native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg
, caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. He is the Bishop of the
Diocese of Kalyan.
Biography
Bishop Mar Thomas Elavanal was born to Zacharias and Thresia on 28 March 1950 at Mutholy, near
Palai
Pallai ( ta, பளை, si, පල්ලෙයි), also spelt Palai, is a small town in the Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka.
It is located near the coast on the northern peninsula, approximately south-east of Jaffna.
...
, in Kerala. He was born into a branch of the ancient
Palackal family of Pallipuram.
The family soon migrated to Chathankottunada, near Kuttiady in Calicut district, where he completed his high school education. He then joined the MCBS Minor Seminary in June 1966. He had his first religious profession on 17 May 1968 and priestly ordination by Mar Sebastian Mankuzhikary on 22 December 1975.
After a brief period of 3 years appointment at the MCBS Minor Seminary, Kottayam, he travelled to Rome and the US for his Higher Studies. He holds a licentiate in liturgy from
Pontifical Oriental Institute and a doctorate in theology from the
Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' in Rome. His dissertation was entitled ''A study of the anaphora of the Apostles Mar Addai and Mari''. His post-doctoral studies were at the Catholic University of America, Washington.
On his return to India, he was appointed rector of the MCBS Seminary, Alwaye and in 1989, the assistant superior general of the congregation. He was the visiting professor of liturgy at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy, Alwaye and Paurastya Vidyapitham, Kottayam. In 1995 he was elected the superior general.
He was nominated as bishop of Kalyan on 18 December 1996. On 8 February 1997, he was consecrated bishop, the shepherd of over one hundred thousand migrants of the Syro-Malabar Catholics spread across the cities of Bombay, Pune and Nashik. In 2022, he celebrated 25 years in this post.
In 2023 he is the Chairman of Western Regional Commission for Health and the Syro-Malabar Synodal Commission for Liturgy.
Union of Catholic Asian News website
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See also
Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament
The Missionary Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (MCBS) is an indigenous clerical congregation of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in southern India.
The birth of MCBS
In the beginning of the twentieth century the Eucharistic-centered re ...
References
External links
Profile from Syro Malabar Church Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elavanal, Thomas
1950 births
Syro-Malabar bishops
Living people
People from Pala, Kerala