Marampudi Joji

Marampudi Joji ( born October 7, 1942 in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, † August 27 2010 in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh ) was an Indian theologian and Roman Catholic Archbishop of Hyderabad in central India.

Marampudi Joji wrote Indian church history. He was the first archbishop, who was a Dalit and so was regarded as a descendant of the Indian natives as " untouchable ".

Life

Marampudi Joji attended the Lutheran Boarding School at Samalkot, which was led by priests of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church ( AELC ). After the visit of the Minor Seminary in Nuzvidu he studied at seminaries in Hyderabad and Bangalore. He received on 14 December 1971, and was ordained priest incardinated in the diocese of Vijayawada. Later he studied the catechism, journalism and media studies at Loyola College in Chennai, also Business Administration from Bombay University.

Pope John Paul II appointed him in 1991 to the bishop of Khammam. He received his episcopal consecration on March 19, 1992 Archbishop George Zur, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal; Co-consecrators were the Archbishop of Hyderabad, Saminini Arulappa, and Joseph S. Thumma, Bishop of Vijayawada.

In 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Vijayawada and 2000 for the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India ( CBCI ) and secretary of the Andhra Pradesh Bishops' Conference ( APBC ). Joji was a committed Indian churchman, he was also a member of the Planungskommsission and co-opted member of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.

Marampudi Joji died of a heart attack. He was buried in Gunadala Matha Shrine in Vijayawada.