Antony Padiyara

Mar Antony Padiyara ܡܸܛܪܵܦܘܿܠܝܼܛܵܐ ܘܬܲܪܐ ܕܟܠ ܗܸܢܕܘܿ
Cardinal, Major Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Church
Province	Metropolitan province of Ernakulam Angamaly
Diocese	Ernakulam Angamaly
See	Ernakulam-Angamaly
Installed	23 April 1985
Term ended	11 November 1996
Predecessor	Mar Augustine Kandathil as the head of the Syro Malabar Church Joseph Parecattil as the Archbishop of Ernakulam
Successor	Mar Varkey Vithayathil
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Ootacamund (1955–1970) Archbishop of Changanassery (1970–1985)
Orders
Ordination	19 December 1945
Consecration	3 July 1955
Created cardinal	28 June 1988
Rank	Major Archbishop
Personal details
Born	(1921-02-11)11 February 1921 Manimala, Travancore
Died	23 March 2000(2000-03-23) (aged 79) Kakkanad, Kerala, India
Nationality	Indian
Denomination	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Antony Padiyara Metropolitan Archbishop Metropolitan Archbishop of Changanassery Province Metropolitan province of Changanassery Diocese Changanassery Appointed 14 Jun 1970 Term ended 23 Apr 1985 Predecessor Mathew Kavukattu Successor Joseph Powathil
Antony Padiyara Bishop of Ootacamund Province Latin Metropolitan province of Madras-Mylapore Diocese Ootacamund Installed 3 Jul 1955 Term ended 14 Jun 1970 Predecessor Post established Successor Packiam Arokiaswamy

Ordination history of Antony Padiyara
History Priestly ordination Date 19 December 1945 Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Bishop René-Jean-Baptiste-Germain Feuga Co-consecrators Francis Xavier Muthappa, Matthew Kavukattu
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Antony Padiyara as principal consecrator Archbishop James Masilamony Arul Das 1974 Januarius Paul Palathuruthy 1977 Gregory Karotemprel 1983 Paul Chittilapilly 1988 Archbishop George Valiamattam 1989 Vijay Anand Nedumpuram 1990 Archbishop Abraham Kattumana 1991 Jacob Manathodath 1992 Simon Stock Palathara 1993

Mar Antony Padiyara (11 February 1921 – 23 March 2000) was a Syro Malabar Major Archbishop and cardinal. He was the First Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He was Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly from 1985 to 1996, having previously served as Bishop of Ootacamund (1955–1970) and Archbishop of Changanassery (1970–1985). He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1988.

Biography

Born in Manimala, Travancore, Antony Padiyara studied at St. Peter's Regional Seminary in Bangalore and was ordained to the priesthood on 19 December 1945. He was incardinated into the Latin Rite Diocese of Coimbatore, where he served as curate at Peria Kodiveri and pastor at Kollegal and Ootacamund between 1946 and 1952. He became rector of the minor seminary in 1952 and a professor at St. Peter's Regional Seminary in 1954.

On 3 July 1955, Padiyara was appointed Bishop of Ootacamund by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 16 October from Bishop René-Jean-Baptiste-Germain Feuga, with Bishop Francis Xavier Muthappa and Archbishop Matthew Kavukattu serving as co-consecrators. After attending the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965, Padiyara returned to the Syro-Malabar Rite. On 13 June 1970 he was promoted to Archbishop of Changanassery. He was elected Vice President of the Indian Episcopal Conference (1976), President of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (1983), and President of the Syro-Malabar Bishops Conference (1984). In one of the acts of his short-lived papacy, Pope John Paul I named him Apostolic visitor to the Syro-Malabar Catholics in Kerala on 8 September 1978.

Padiyara was appointed Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly by Pope John Paul II on 23 April 1985. He was created cardinal priest of S. Maria "Regina Pacis" a Monte Verde in the consistory of 28 June 1988. When the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly was elevated to the rank of a major archdiocese on 16 December 1992, Padiyara became a Major Archbishop and thus head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. During this period, the powers of Major Archbishop were also vested in the Pontifical Delegate Mar Abraham Kattumana (1992–1995). Within the Roman Curia, he was a member of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of the Code of Oriental Canon Law. After reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, he resigned as Major Archbishop on 11 November 1996, after eleven years of service. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1998.

He later died at the Cardinal Padiyara Nature Cure Centre in Kakkanad, which he himself had founded, aged 79. He is buried in St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica in Ernakulam.

External links

• Antony Padiyara statistics