Thomas Kurialacherry

Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry, 1911

Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry 1923 (2nd from left)

Thomas Kurialacherry , often also Kurialachery (born January 14, 1873 in Champakulam , Kerala , India , † June 2, 1925 in Rome ) was a Catholic bishop and first head of the Syro-Malabar diocese (eparchy) of Changanacherry in Kerala.

Live and act

Thomas Kurialacherry was born in the village of Champakulam, a center of the Thomas Christians with a Christian community over 1500 years old.

He studied in Rome at the College of the Papal Propaganda Congregation and was ordained a priest on May 27, 1899. After returning to India, he took on pastoral positions in Chennamkary, Kavalam, Edathua and his home parish Champakulam. In Edathua in 1908, as a pastor, he founded the order of the "Sisters of the Adoration of the Most Holy Altar Sacrament", which combined contemplative prayer with educational and charitable tasks. It still exists today and also has branches in Germany (e.g. Trier)

On August 30, 1911, Thomas Kurialacherry was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Changanacherry and Titular Bishop of Pella by Pope Pius X and consecrated on December 3. His predecessor Mathew Makil , who also belonged to the endogamous subgroup of the Knananites , took over the staff vicariate Kottayam , which was created especially for this group .

Bishop Kurialacherry was an ardent devotee of the sacrament of the altar and promoted Eucharistic adoration throughout the parishes . At the same time he fought sustainably in his district the social evils, illiteracy, alcoholism, social injustice and discrimination against women. In this sense he also led the order of sisters he founded. In 1922 the prelate founded the Johannes Berchmans College in Changanacherry, now part of the University of Kerala . The "Kurialacherry Medal" is awarded there every year for the best bachelor's degree.

On St. Thomas's Day, December 21, 1923, Pope Pius XI. the orderly hierarchy of the Catholic Thomas Christians in India was restored and their apostolic vicariates became independent dioceses. On this day, Thomas Kurialacherry became the first bishop of the newly founded diocese of Changanacherry.

In 1925 he visited Rome on the occasion of the Holy Year and died there unexpectedly on June 2nd of that year. His remains were transferred to Changanacherry Cathedral in 1935, where a brisk stream of pilgrims soon began to go to the grave of the Lord Shepherd, who had died in the name of holiness. In the 14 years of his episcopate he had written no fewer than 113 pastoral letters.

Due to numerous answers to prayer, the Archdiocese of Changanacherry initiated the beatification process for its first bishop in 1983 , which was positively concluded in 1991 at the diocesan level. Since then, the case has been pending for a final decision in Rome and he can be called " Venerable Servant of God ".

Web links

• Page no longer available , search in web archives: Biographical page on Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry
• Entry about Thomas Kurialacherry on catholic-hierarchy.org
• Page no longer available , search in web archives: Homepage of the Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry colleague for women in Kottayam named after the pastor
• Page no longer available , search in web archives: Page of the sisters founded by the bishop in the diocese of Trier

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On Champakulam and Bishop Kurialacherry's Home Church
2. ↑ To the parish of Chennamkary  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ On the parish of Edathua ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Homepage of the order founded by Thomas Kurialacherry ( Memento of the original dated December 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Website of the Berchmans College Changanacherry with the naming of Bishop Kurialacherry as the founder ( memento of the original from August 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Bishop Kurialacherry on a page about Indian candidates for beatification (about in the middle) ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.