Thomas Kurialacherry

Venerable Thomas of Kurialacherry
ܡܵܪܝ ܬܐܘܿܡܐܵ ܐܲܦܸܣܩܘܿܦܵܐ (14 January 1873 – 02 June 1925) was a Catholic bishop, born in the Indian village of Champakulam.

Life

Kurialacherry was a member of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and was the first bishop[1] of what would become the Archdiocese of Changanassery. He was born on 14 January 1873 as the sixth child of Chackochen and Accamma in Champakulam,Kerala. He was baptized on the eighth day and was christened Thomas. After his primary education,Thomas joined St.Ephrem school in Mannanam.It was during this time that he felt a strong desire to become a priest.His seminary education was at the Propaganda Seminary in Rome.During the nine years he spent in Rome he excelled in every field and became the prefect of the seminarians.He was ordained on 27 March 1899 by Cardinal Cassantha. While in Rome he was inspired by the piety of perpetual adoration sisters who spent day and night in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament;he decided to spread Eucharistic devotion in his homeland. As an ardent devotee of The Blessed Sacrament, he zealously promoted the 40 and 13 hour devotion.He also founded the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS).[2] Thomas Kurialacherry was appointed as the vicar apostolic of the Changanassery vicariate. He was consecrated on 1911 December 3 in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Bishop Kurialacherry was a social reformer and was enthusiastic about upbringing the marginalized sectors of the society. He showed great care towards dalit catholics.Mar Kurialacherry was an apostle of ecuminism;as a man with a wider perspective he worked for the unity of various Christian communities. He was confident that progress of the society could be achieved through education; this lead him to establishing many educational institutions including the prestigious St. Berchmans college in Changanassery. In the silver jubilee year of his ordination bishop Thomas Kurialacherry went to Rome for his adlimina visit.He also had a desire to participate in the beatification of St.Therese of Lisieux.Even while back in India he experienced episodes of rheumatism. He was afflicted with uremia and while in Rome his illness aggravated. He celebrated his lass mass in the Propaganda college chapel on the 26 anniversary of his ordination. He died on 2 June 1925 in Rome. His mortal remains were brought back to his homeland in 1935 and interred in the Changanassery metropolitan cathedral and was transferred to the newly built Marthmariam kabaridappalli in 2014.

Cause of Canonization

In 1935, ten years after his death, his Cause of Canonization was initiated giving him the title "Servant of God". On 2 April 2011, Pope Benedict XVI, in an audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, approved (along with the advancement of many other sainthood causes) a statement saying that Bishop Kurialachery had lived a life of heroic virtue. This gave him the additional title of "Venerable".

References
  1. "KERALA CATHOLIC BISHOPS' COUNCIL (KCBC)".
  2. "Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (SABS)".
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