Background
Vithayathil, Varkey Cardinal was born on May 29, 1927 in Paur, Ernakulam, India. Son of Joseph and Thresiamma Vithayathil.
archbishop cardinal priest university professor
Vithayathil, Varkey Cardinal was born on May 29, 1927 in Paur, Ernakulam, India. Son of Joseph and Thresiamma Vithayathil.
Master in Philosophy, University Karnataka, India. Doctor in Canon Law, Pontifical University St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome.
He was ordained as a priest on 12 June 1954. He wrote for a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome on The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy. In 1972 he took his Master"s Degree in Philosophy from Karnataka University.
He also taught different subjects in several other seminaries in Bangalore.
Then, from 1984 to 1985 he was President of the India Conference of Religious. In 1990, he was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of the Asirvanam Benedictine Monastery in Bangalore by Pope John Paul World War II
He was appointed Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly on 18 December 1996 and was consecrated Bishop on 6 January 1997.
Pope John Paul II appointed him as the Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly and Head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, on 23 December 1999. In February 2008 he was elected President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and held the presidency from 19 February 2008 to 3 March 2010.
He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI.
The sacerdotal golden jubilee of the March Varkey Vithayathil was celebrated under the auspices of the Syro-Malabar church on 8 November 2003.
The jubilee was inaugurated on 12 June 2003 and was concluded on 12 June 2004. Fifth Marian dogma
March Varkey Vithayathil supported proposals to solemnly proclaim a fifth Marian dogma on the co-redemption and mediation of graces, saying it would be beneficial to the Church and that it would have positive ecumenical effects. On 1 April 2011, March Varkey Vithayathil died suddenly from a massive heart attack.
He had suffered from prolonged heart problems for some time and died about 2:00 pm of sudden and irreversible cardiac arrest from the heart attack at Lisie Hospital in Ernakulam, where he had been hurriedly taken after fainting while celebrating Mass at noon at his chapel in the Major Archbishop"s house, in Ernakulam.
The funeral was held on 10 April 2011 at Saint Mary"s Cathedral Basilica, Ernakulam.
Pope John Paul II nominated March Varkey I Vithayathil a member of the Sacred College of s on 21 January 2001, and raised him to that dignity at the Consistory of 21 February 2001 becoming -Priest of South. Bernardo alle Terme.