Mor Philoxenos Yuhanon (born John Jacob Elappanal; 5 December 1941 – 30 December 2015) was a Syriac Orthodox bishop. He was the Bishop Emeritus of Malabar Diocese. Tomb of H

Early years

John Jacob was born to the ''Elappanal'' Family of

Pampady Pampady is a fastest growing town in Kottayam district of Kerala, Southern India. It lies midway between the backwaters of Western Kerala and the mountains of the Western Ghats. Etymology The meaning of Pampady as per Malayalam Dictionary ...

on 5 December 1941. In 1964, at the age of 23, he was ordained ''deacon'' by Mor Philaxinos Poulose (then Catholicose Mor

Baselios Paulose II Baselios Paulose II (born as Puthusseril Joseph Paulose (12 June 1914–1 September 1996) was the second Maphrian(Catholicos) of the East Jacobite Syrian Christian Church (Syriac Orthodox Church in India) (posthumously known as Maphrian of Ind ...

) during his rebellious Antiochian Movement, and ''Kassisho'' in 1969 by Mor Baselios Augen I.

Education

Jacob had his primary and high school education at Pampady. Later, he joined Baselios College (

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south- ...

) where he received a BA in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. After that he obtained an MA in economics from Sri Venkateswara University (

Thirupathi Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

). His basic theological training was at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in

. ''Mor Athanasius Yeshue Samuel'', Archbishop of Canada, sponsored Jacob for his higher studies in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Jacob joined the

New York Theological Seminary The New York Theological Seminary (NYTS) is a private non-denominational Christian seminary in New York City. It was founded in 1900 as the Bible Teacher's College. In 2019, Rev. LaKeesha Walrond was appointed as the first woman and the first Af ...

and obtained his STM degree. Subsequently, he took his Th.D. degree from ''Logos Graduate School of Theology'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and DD degree from ''Orlando International Seminary'' in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. Mor Philoxenos is the only bishop in Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church with two doctorates. He also completed a ''Clinical Pastoral Education'' in New York. After becoming a bishop, Mor Philoxenos continued studying and joined ''

Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha is an organisation whose main goal is to improve Hindi literacy among the non-Hindi speaking people of South India. The headquarters are located at Thanikachalam Road, T. Nagar, Chennai. The organisation was ...

'', a deemed university and center of excellence under Govt. of India, and secured Hindi Bhooshan and Hindi Praveen.

As priest

When Jacob was studying in the USA, he served as the

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

in many Jacobite churches in Staten Island, Manhattan, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Augusta. He also performed volunteer work for the Holy Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church.

As metropolitan

After 17 January 1985, when the Metropolitan of Malabar Diocese, Samuel Mor Philaxinos, died, the Holy Episcopal Synod selected Jacob as the new metropolitan to the diocese. On 12 September 1985 Mor

consecrated Jacob as the new metropolitan of Malabar, with the name Mor Philoxenos, at St Peter's & St Paul's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Cathedral in Meenangadi (one of the biggest churches in Malankara). The history of the Malabar Diocese is closely related to Yuhanon Mor Philexinos. When Yuhanon Mor Philoxenos took charge of Malabar, the Diocese area was in a high state of deterioration. He therefore co-ordinated the works in the diocese and constructed many new churches throughout the diocese. A lot of them are built in Nilgiri District of Tamil Nadu, Kozhikode and Malappuram Districts of Kerala. Mor Philoxenos Yuhanon started institutions including: *Mor Alias Snehabhavan *Mor Philoxenos Memorial Press *Mor Gregorios Teachers Training College *St. Peter's & St. Paul's EHS School *Aramana Chapel *Mor Basil Day Care *Mor Philoxenos Foundation *The present Bishop's Palace PampadyChurch

References

External links