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 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 ...

from 1999-2007 and Valiya Thirumeni (Metropolitan Emeritus) from 2007 until his death. He was the world's longest serving bishop, serving for . He was addressed and referred to as ''Chrysostom Thirumeni'' or ''Valiya Thirumeni'' after his retirement. He was awarded India's third highest civilian award, the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

, in 2018.

Early life and education

Philip Oommen was born to the Adangappurathu Kalamannil family which has produced several priests. Tirumeni's father was Vicar General K. E. Oommen, Kalamannil, Adangapurathu,

Kumbanad Kumbanad is a town located in the Koipuram Town Panchayath Along with Pullad. It is part of Thiruvalla Taluk of Pathanamthitta district in the State of Kerala. It is an important town situated on T.K. Road, equidistant from Eraviperoor and ...

, Thiruvalla. His mother was Sosamma of Nadukke Veettil,

Karthikappally Karthikappally is a village in Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala.Haripad is the headquarter of Karthikappally Taluk. Taluk office is located at revenue tower Haripad. History Karthikappally was once a Buddhist center. Since ...

. He attended

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 M ...

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 Ko ...

and Eraviperoor schools, and went on to graduate from

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 ...

. He was ordained as a

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 Chur ...

of the Malankara Mar Thoma Church on 1 January 1944 and ''Kasseessa'' on 3 June 1944. He was ordained as

Ramban Ramban can refer to: * Nachmanides (1194 – ), Catalan rabbi and philosopher also known as RaMBaN * Cave of the Ramban in Jerusalem * Ramban, Jammu and Kashmir, a town in India ** Ramban district, an administrative unit in India ** Ramban (Vid ...

on 20 May 1952.

Consecration

In 1950 the Church Mandalam ''Sabha Pratinidhi Mandalam'' (representative assembly) consecrated three bishops, including Philip Oommen. On 23 May 1953, Philip Oommen Ramban was consecrated as Philipose Mar Chrysostom Episcopa. During his tenure he was the president of the National Council of Churches, India and attended

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 ju ...

at Evanston in 1954 and Uppsala in 1968. He also attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

Status metropolitan

Episcopa On 23 May 1953, Juhanon Mar Thoma Metropolitan assisted by Mathews Mar Athanasius Episcopa ordained Oommen as Episcopa and gave him the episcopal title Philipose Mar Chrysostom. M. G. Chandy (Alexander Mar Theophilus later Alexander Mar Thoma ) and P.Thomas (Thomas Mar Athanasius) were ordained on the same day. In 1954, Mar Chrysostom joined St. Augustine's College,

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

, UK to further his theological studies. Suffragan Metropolitan He was designated as Suffragan Metropolitan in May 1978. Officiating Metropolitan After Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan stepped aside from the daily administration of the Church due to ill-health on 15 March 1999, Mar Chrysostom was designated Officiating Metropolitan. Metropolitan Mar Chrysostom was installed as

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

on 23 October 1999 when Alexander Mar Thoma Metropolitan was made Valiya Metropolitan. (Senior Metropolitan) Valiya Metropolitan ( Metropolitan Emeritus) On 28 August 2007, Thirumeni announced his resignation as supreme head of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church on grounds of old age and ill-health

Biopic

Indian film director

Blessy Blessy Ipe Thomas is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He has won one National Film Award and six Kerala State Film Awards for his feature films '' Kaazhcha'' (2004), '' Thanmathra'' (2005), and ''Pranayam' ...

made a comprehensive biopic called 100 years of Chrysostom, about 48 hours 10 minute long, on Philipose Mar Chrysostom
Blessy's biopic on Mar Chrysostom will be 72 hours long - Times of India
https://english.manoramaonline.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/mohanlal-blessy-back-with-documentary-on-mar-chrysostom.html Home]

Navathy Home Project

Philipose Mar Chrysostom Mar Thoma Metropolitan completed 90 years on 27 April 2008. As part of the birthday celebration, Mar Thoma Church devised a project, ''Navathy Home Project,'' to support and enable 1500 families in India, irrespective of caste, creed or religion, to build a home of their own. (Malayalam – ''navathy'' – ninetieth anniversary). The cost of each home was Rs. 1,50,000. (US$2400). Each house consisted of a sit-out, a drawing room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a dining room and a toilet. Mar Thoma Church members donated so much that the project was a great success; it was extended from India to Mexico.

Centenary

On his hundredth birthday, on 27 April 2018, the Church officially inaugurated the Project among the Transgender Community.

Padma Bhushan

The Republic of India awarded the

to Tirumeni for services to society. It was officially declared on the eve of Republic Day (India), Republic Day 2018 and he was awarded on 20 March 2018.

Death

Tirumeni died on 5 May 2021 at his residence soon after being hospitalized. He died of natural causes.

References

Mar Thoma Church.Mar Thoma Church

External links

Official website of the Mathoma Syrian Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chrysostom, Philipose Mar Indian Christian religious leaders 1918 births 2021 deaths Indian centenarians Thirumeni Malayali people People from Pathanamthitta district Christian clergy from Kerala Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in other fields Men centenarians