Varkey Vithayathil
Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, C.Ss.R. (* May 29, 1927 in Parur, † April 1, 2011 in Kochi) was Indian Major Archbishop of Ernakulam- Angamaly of the faithful of the Syro -Malabar rite and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
Life
Varkey Vithayathil attended schools in North Paravur and Thiruvananthapuram. He studied philosophy at University College, Thiruvananthapuram and Catholic Theology at St. Joseph College, Trichy. After his ordination in 1954 he studied at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome for doctoral studies in canon law, which he completed with the work " The Origin and Progress of the Syro - Malabar Hierarchy ". In 1972 he completed a Masters in Philosophy from the Karnatak University. From 1959 to 1984 he worked as a lecturer in canon law at the Redemptorist seminary in Bangalore. He also taught other subjects in other seminars in Bangalore.
From 1978 to 1984 he served as Provincial of the Redemptorist in India and Sri Lanka. 1984 to 1985 he was president of the Conference of Churches in India. From 1990 on, he spent six years as Apostolic Administrator of the Benedictine Asirvinam in Bangalore.
On 11 November 1996 Varkey Vithayathil was appointed by Pope John Paul II, Titular Archbishop of Achrida and 1997, Titular Archbishop of Antinoë. He received on 6 January 1997 consecrated bishop by Pope John Paul II himself and initially looked on as an administrator for the vacant bishopric of Ernakulam- Angamaly of the Syro -Malabar rite before it was used there in 1999 as archbishop. Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil was President of the Synod of Bishops of the Syro -Malabar Church.
On 21 February 2001 Vithayathil was received by Pope John Paul II as a Cardinal with the priestly title church of San Bernardo alle Terme in the College of Cardinals.
He was a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Cardinal Vithayathil was entitled to vote, participants in the conclave in 2005, the Pope Benedict XVI. chose. In February 2008, he was elected president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India.