Paulos Mar Gregorios

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Paulos Gregorios (1981)

Paulos Mar Gregorios or Paul Verghese (born August 9, 1922 in Tripunithura , Kerala , † November 24, 1996 ) was an Indian Orthodox priest , metropolitan and theologian.

Live and act

Paul Verghese or Vargīsa Pôla was born into the traditionally Christian family of TP Piely and Aley Piely and received his early upbringing in his hometown. He began his career as a freelance journalist with articles and reports for various newspapers in Kochi and Malabar . He later took on a journalistic job at the Cochin Transport Company . In 1942 he joined the Post & Telegraphs Department . This was followed by a job as a teacher in Ethiopia . It was there that the Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie became aware of him. The relationship that developed from this led Verghese to make a career in Ethiopia. He was also delegated to the USA for further studies : at Goshen College of Oklahoma University, to Princeton and to Yale .

In 1954 he returned to India with a Masters degree in Theology. He began to work as director of the Comradeship House in Aluva and as visiting professor at Union Christian College Aluva. In 1955 he became a faculty member at the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam . There he also became general secretary of the Orthodox Christian Student Movement. During a visit by the Ethiopian Emperor to India in 1956, Verghese was persuaded to return to Ethiopia. There he worked in the following years as a personal assistant and advisor to the emperor.

In 1958 he returned to India and was ordained a deacon . In 1961 he was ordained by the Catholic as "Father Paul Verghese", the man at the top of his church. As the father of Verghese, he continued his theological studies. He wrote his doctoral theses in Oxford and Germany and received a doctorate in theology from Serampore College in Calcutta . In 1967 he was appointed director of the Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam. He was called a metropolitan by his church in the form of HH Moran Mar Baselios Augen I. on February 16, 1975. A year later Paulos Mar Gregorios headed the diocese of Delhi and founded the Delhi Orthodox Center. He has held several positions on the World Council of Churches (WCC). In 1962 he became director of the Ecumenical Activity Division of the WCC and in 1966 associate general secretary. At the same time he was a member of the Central Committee and the Executive Committee, as well as a member of the Faith and Order Commission . From 1983 to 1991 he was one of the presidents of the WCC and one of the vice-presidents of the Christian Peace Conference from 1970 to 1990.

After 1990 he became more involved in the interreligious dialogue of the world religions, which earned him opposition from various sides. In 1991 he became president of the officially established Interreligious Federation for World Peace. An important concern of this association was the establishment of a “Peace University”, which the Dalai Lama also advocates.

He wrote in several magazines, including a. in the International Journal of Theology. His biographer Joyce Thottacked has compiled a list of his magazine articles .

In the last years of his life, Gregorios was seen as a symbol of a spiritually-theologically founded holistic doctrine of " holistic medicine ".

Aftermath

In November 2002 a Paulos Mar Gregorios conference took place in Chicago (USA) under the motto "A Life of Close Intimacy with God".

Awards

Paulos Mar Gregorios received honorary doctorates from Charles University in Prague and the Universities of Budapest and Leningrad. He has also received numerous orders and prizes, including the Order of St. Vladimir .

Works

  • The Syrian Churches in India, Stuttgart: Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1974
  • Coptic Christianity, Stuttgart: Evangelisches Verlagswerk, 1973, [from d. Ms. transl.]
  • The Freedom of Man, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972
  • Priests and Pastors, Leplay, Michel. - Regensburg: Pustet, 1970
  • The Orthodox Church and the Holy Spirit, Marburg adL: Oekumenischer Verl. Edel, 1966
  • Church and Charisma, Marburg ad Lahn: Oekumenischer Verl. Edel, 1966
  • Church and Mission, Marburg ad Lahn: Oekumenischer Verl. Edel, 1964

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Orientation ecumenism. A manual. Published by Hans-Martin Moderow and Matthias Sens, EVA Berlin 1979, p. 288 on behalf of the Theological Studies Department at the Federation of Evangelical Churches in the GDR
  2. ↑ http://www.concilium.org/deutsch/inha861.htm
  3. ^ A List of Articles - written by Metropolitan Paulos Mar Gregorios

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Paulos Mar Gregorios
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paul Verghese
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Syrian Orthodox theologian and bishop
DATE OF BIRTH August 9, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Tripunithura , Kerala
DATE OF DEATH November 24, 1996