Varkey Vithayathil

{{Short description|Head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church from 1999 to 2011}} {{Use British English|date=March 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = Cardinal | honorific-prefix = Mar | name = Varkey Vithayathil {{nobold|{{Lang|syr|ܡܪ ܘܪܟܝ ܘܝܬܝܐܬܝܠ}}}} | title = [[List of Major Archbishops of the Syro-Malabar Church|Major Archbishop Cardinal]] | image = Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil.jpg | image_size = 250px | diocese = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly|Ernakulam-Angamaly]] | see = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly|Ernakulam-Angamaly]] | predecessor = [[Antony Padiyara]] | successor = [[George Alencherry]] | ordination = 12 June 1954 | consecration = 17 January 1997 | other_post = Apostolic Administrator of the [[Benedictine]] Monastery in Bangalore (1990–1996) Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme | cardinal = 21 February 2001 | created_cardinal_by = [[Pope John Paul II]] | rank = Cardinal-Priest of S. Bernardo alle Terme | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|5|29|df=y}} | birth_place = [[North Paravur|North Parur]], [[Travancore]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|4|1|1927|5|29|df=y}} | death_place = [[Ernakulam]], Kerala, India | nationality = Indian | religion = [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]] | residence = | parents = Mr. Joseph Vithayathil Mrs. Thresiamma Manadan }} {{Ordination | expand = Episcopal succession | ordained priest by = [[Archbishop Thomas Pothacamury]] | date of priestly ordination = 12 June 1954 | consecrated by = [[Pope John Paul II]] | co-consecrators = [[Archbishop Giovanni Battista Re]], [[Archbishop Miroslav Stefan Marusyn]] | date of consecration = 6 January 1997 | place of consecration = | elevated by = [[Pope John Paul II]] | date of elevation = 21 January 2001 | bishop 1 = [[Emmanuel Mani Giles Pothanamuzhy]] | consecration date 1 = January 26, 1997 | bishop 2 = [[Thomas Elavanal]] | consecration date 2 = November 11, 1997 | bishop 3 = [[Thomas Chakiath]] | consecration date 3 = January 19, 1998 | bishop 4 = [[Lawrence Mukkuzhy]] | consecration date 4 = August 4, 1999 | bishop 5 = [[Joseph Kunnath, C.M.I.]] | consecration date 5 = October 6, 1999 | bishop 6 = [[Matthew Vaniakizhakel, C.V.]] | consecration date 6 = April 12, 2000 | bishop 7 = [[Jacob Angadiath]] | consecration date 7 = July 1, 2001 | bishop 8 = [[Sebastian Adayanthrath]] | consecration date 8 = April 20, 2002 | bishop 9 = [[Mathew Anikuzhikattil]] | consecration date 9 = March 2, 2003 | bishop 10 = [[José Porunnedom]] | consecration date 10 = March 18, 2004 | bishop 11 = [[Anthony Chirayath]] | consecration date 11 = March 25, 2006 | bishop 12 = [[Thomas Thuruthimattam, C.S.T.]] | consecration date 12 = October 1, 2006 | bishop 13 = [[Joseph Arumachadath, M.C.B.S.]] | consecration date 13 = August 29, 2007 | bishop 14 = [[Bosco Puthur]] | consecration date 14 = January 18, 2010 }}

'''Varkey Vithayathil''' [[Redemptorists|CSsR]] (29 May 1927{{spaced ndash}}1 April 2011) was an Indian [[cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]] who served as the [[List of Major Archbishops of Ernakulam-Angamaly|Major Archbishop]] of the [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Church]] and [[Syro-Malabar Catholic Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly|Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly]] from 1999 to 2011. He was also a [[Catholic religious order|religious priest]] of the [[Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Annuaro Pontificio per l'anno 2010|year=2010|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|location=Città del Vaticano|pages=95*,1441}}</ref>

==Early life and ordination== Born to Joseph Vithayathil and Thresiamma Manadan in [[North Paravur|North Parur]], [[Travancore]], he became a member of the [[Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer]] (Redemptorists), a religious congregation founded by [[Alphonsus Ligouri]] in 1732. He was ordained as a priest on 12 June 1954. He was granted a doctorate in [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|canon law]] from the [[Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)]] in Rome on ''The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy''. He taught for 25 years at the [[Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer|Redemptorist]] seminary in [[Bangalore]]. In 1972 he took his master's degree in philosophy from [[Karnataka University]]. He also taught different subjects in several other seminaries in Bangalore.

==Provincial Superior== From 1978 to 1984 he was the Provincial Superior of the Redemptorist Provinces of India and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://scalanews.com/scala/varky/scalaenglish.html |title="Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, C.SS.R.", ''Scala'', April 1, 2011 |access-date=30 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135723/http://scalanews.com/scala/varky/scalaenglish.html |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 II]].

==Metropolitan and Gate of all India== He was appointed [[Apostolic Administrator]] of Ernakulam-Angamaly on 11 November 1996 and was [[Holy Orders|consecrated]] a 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]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=11564|title=Cardinal Vithayathil elected new president of Indian bishops|date=19 February 2008|access-date=2008-03-06|publisher=AsiaNews}}</ref> and held the presidency from 19 February 2008 to 3 March 2010.

==Cardinal== Pope John Paul II appointed Varkey Vithayathil a member of the [[Sacred College of Cardinals]] on 21 January 2001, and raised him to that dignity at the Consistory of 21 February 2001 becoming [[Cardinal-Priest]] of ''[[S. Bernardo alle Terme]]''. He was one of the [[Cardinal electors in Papal conclave, 2005|cardinal electors]] who participated in the [[Papal conclave, 2005|2005 papal conclave]] that elected [[Pope Benedict XVI]].

==Sacerdotal golden jubilee== The sacerdotal [[golden jubilee]] of Cardinal 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.

[[Image:Mar Varkey Vithayathil.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Varkey Vithayathil former Major Archbishop]]

==Opinions==

===Fifth Marian dogma=== Varkey Vithayathil supported proposals to solemnly proclaim a fifth Marian dogma on the [[Co-Redemption|co-redemption]] and mediation of graces, saying it would be beneficial to the Church and that it would have positive ecumenical effects.<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/z5dogmant.htm 5th Dogma a Marian Antidote]</ref>

==Death== He died suddenly from a massive heart attack on 1 April 2011. 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 in his chapel in the Major Archbishop's house, in Ernakulam.<ref>[http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2011/04/01/cardinal-varkey-vithayathil-dies/ Indian Catholic News] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404011958/http://www.cathnewsindia.com/2011/04/01/cardinal-varkey-vithayathil-dies/ |date=4 April 2011 }} [http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=474919 Radio Vatican] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121092236/http://www.oecumene.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=474919 |date=21 January 2012 }}</ref> The funeral was held on 10 April 2011 at [[St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, Ernakulam]]. Varkey himself did not have any children, obviously, but his brother's line still lives today, with the eldest grandchild of Varkey's brother, living in Mumbai, India, and the second grandchild, living in UK. as of 2017<ref>[[Bosco Puthur]]: [http://www.smcim.org/files/portal/news/attach1_139.pdf Announcement of the funeral of Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321165701/http://www.smcim.org/files/portal/news/attach1_139.pdf |date=21 March 2012 }} [http://www.ernakulamarchdiocese.org/curia.pdf Circular (in Malayalam)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928080700/http://www.ernakulamarchdiocese.org/curia.pdf |date=28 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>[[Bosco Puthur]]: [http://www.smcim.org/files/portal/news/attach1_173.pdf Circular (in Malayalam) on the concluding of the funeral of Mar Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001060819/http://www.smcim.org/files/portal/news/attach1_173.pdf |date=1 October 2011 }}, 18 April 2011.</ref>

==Works== *''The Origin and Progress of the Syro-Malabar Hierarchy'', Thesis, [[Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas|Angelicum]], 1959. Published: Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, India, 1980. *''Straight From the Heart'', autobiography and opinions in the form of an extended interview, 2009.

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category}} {{wikiquote}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110412072059/http://www.ernakulamarchdiocese.org/archbishop.php Official biography at Archdiocese of Ernakulam] *[https://cardinals.fiu.edu/bios2001.htm#Vithayathil#Vithayathil Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church] *[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvith.html Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, Catholic Hierarchy]

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef|before= [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Antony Padiyara]] / [[Pontifical Delegate]] [[Abraham Kattumana]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[List of Major Archbishops of Ernakulam-Angamaly|Major Archbishop of Ernakulam]]|years=1996–2011}} {{s-aft|after=[[George Alencherry]]}} {{s-end}}

{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= India}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vithayathil, Varkey}} [[Category:1927 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:Malayali people]] [[Category:Christian clergy from Ernakulam district]] [[Category:Redemptorists]] [[Category:Redemptorist cardinals]] [[Category:Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni]] [[Category:Syro-Malabar Catholic Archbishops of Ernakulam-Angamaly]] [[Category:Indian cardinals]] [[Category:Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II]]