Bishop Antony Devotta was the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiruchirappalli of the Ecclesiastical Province of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Bishop Antony Devotta was the ninth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tiruchirappalli of the Ecclesiastical Province of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
He was born on 30 June 1943 in Santhome, Chennai. His family had moved from Our Lady of Snow's Basilica, Tuticorin and owned popular Ceylon Bakery in Chennai. [1] After his initiation in St Thomas Minor Seminary, Chennai, he pursued his philosophical and theological formation in Sacred Heard Seminary in Poonamalee, Chennai. He was ordained a priest on 27 August 1971 for the Archdiocese of Chennai-Mylapore. [2]
After his priestly ordination, he was appointed assistant parish priest of Santhome Cathedral, Chennai and assistant editor of a catholic magazine ‘New Leader’ (1971–1978). He was sent for higher studies in Rome. He obtained a licentiate in Pastoral Theology in Pontifical Lateran University, Rome (1978–1981). He served as the professor of systematic theology in Sacred Heart Seminary (1981–1984). He further continued his doctoral studies in Rome (1984–1987). After his doctoral studies, he served as the parish priest of Chingleput and Tambaram (1987–1993). He again continued his teaching ministry and served as the Dean of Studies in the same seminary (1993–1995). He was appointed the Vicar General and the Rector of the National Shrine Basilica of St Thomas, Chennai in 1995. [2] After 30 years of priestly ministry, he was appointed the bishop of Diocese of Tiruchirapalli on 12 December 2000 by St Pope John Paul II and was consecrated on 28 January 2001 by Duraisamy Simon Cardinal Lourdusamy. [3]
He served as the chairman of the Commission for Social Communication of the Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council and as the president of the Commission for Catechetics of CCBI. [4] In his tenure as president, the First Catechetical Directory of India was published in 2015. [5] He participated in the XII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of Rome in 2008, representing the Indian bishops. [6] Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bp Antony Devotta on 14 July 2018 at his retirement age of 75. [7]
After his retirement, he was residing in St Augustine Minor Seminary, Trichy. Bp Antony Devotta entered the eternal rest on 15 October 2019 due to a severe cardiac arrest. In his will, he had expressed his desire to donate his eyes and body. His eyes were donated to St Joseph's Eye Hospital, Tiruchirappalli. [4] After a funeral mass in St Mary's Cathedral, Trichy, his body was handed over to St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore. [8] He is the first Indian bishop to donate his body in the history of Catholic Church of India [9] and the second bishop in the Univarsal Catholic Church, first being the bishop emeritus of Girona, Bishop Camprodon i Rovira who donated his body to Barcelona's Faculty of Medicine in 2016. [10]
The term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or members of a religious institute. A diocesan priest is a Catholic, Anglican or Eastern Orthodox priest who commits themself to a certain geographical area and is ordained into the service of the citizens of a diocese, a church administrative region. That includes serving the everyday needs of the people in parishes, but their activities are not limited to that of their parish.
Duraisamy Simon Lourdusamy was an Indian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches in the Roman Curia and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985. His episcopical motto was Aedificare domum Dei which means "To build the house of God". He was the fourth cardinal from India and the first curial cardinal of Asia outside of the Middle East.
San Thome Church, also known as St. Thomas Cathedral Basilica and National Shrine of Saint Thomas, is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Santhome, in the city of Chennai (Madras), India. It was built in the 16th century by Portuguese explorers, over the tomb of Saint Thomas, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. In 1893, it was rebuilt as a church with the status of a cathedral by the British. The British version still stands today. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style, favoured by British architects in the late 19th century. This church is one of the only three known churches in the world built over the tomb of an apostle of Jesus, the other two being St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City and Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Galicia, Spain.
Archbishop Samineni Arulappa, often shortened to S Arulappa, was an Indian Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the Archbishop of Hyderabad from December 1971 through January 2000. The youngest priest to be consecrated to such a high office, he was also the longest-serving Catholic archbishop in India. He was also the first archbishop who had the honour of being consecrated by Pope Paul VI in Rome.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin is a unit of the Catholic Church in the city of Tuticorin, part of the Ecclesiastical province of Madurai in India.
The Basilica of the Holy Redeemer, Tiruchirappalli is one of five Roman Catholic minor basilicas in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India.
Raymond Alphonse Lucker was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of New Ulm from 1976 to 2000.
Gilbert Armea Garcera is the Roman Catholic Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Lipa in the Philippines. He succeeds Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, who earlier filed his resignation prior to his mandatory retirement age in 2017. His previous assignment was the bishop of the Diocese of Daet in Camarines Norte.
Archbishop Savarinathan Michael Augustine is an Indian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore from 1992 to 2004. He was an honorary member of Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. He served the church for 39 years as a bishop and for 56 years as a priest. He died on 4 November 2017 at the age of 84.
Christianity in the state of Tamil Nadu, India is the second largest religion in the state. According to tradition, St. Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, landed in Malabar Coast in 52 CE. In the colonial age many Portuguese, Dutch, British and Italian Christians came to Tamil Nadu. Priests accompanied them not only to minister the colonisers but also to spread the Christian faith among the non-Christians in Tamil Nadu. Currently, Christians are a minority community comprising 6% of the total population. Christians are mainly concentrated in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu - Kanyakumari, Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli.
Peter Abir Antonisamy is an Indian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He is the bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Sultanpet. He is also currently the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore.
Habib Bacha, SMSP was Melkite Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Beirut and Byblos.
Bishop Jerome Dhas Varuvel, SDB, was born 21 October 1951 in Paduvoor in the diocese of Kottar. He attended Carmel Secondary School in Nagercoil. From 1967 to 1968 he followed the pre-university course at the Scott Christian College, Nagercoil. From 1968 to 1970 he attended the minor seminary at St. Aloysius Seminary in Nagercoil. He studied philosophy at Sacred Heart Seminary in Poonamallee (1970-1973). He also obtained a bachelor's degree in Economics from Arulanandar College, Karumathur, Madurai (1973-1976). In 1976 he decided to join the Salesians of Don Bosco. After completing the pre-novitiate (1976-1977) and novitiate (1977-1978), he made his religious profession temporary 24 May 1978. On 24 May 1981, he made his perpetual vows. From 1981 to 1986 he studied theology at the Salesians in Rome. He has a bachelor's degree in Economics and in Theology and a Licentiate in Pedagogy at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome.
Jesu Pudumai Doss M.J. is a Catholic priest and a religious, specifically a Salesian of Don Bosco, from Chennai, India.
George Antonysamy, is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been Archbishop of Madras and Mylapore since 2012. He previously served in the diplomatic service of the Holy See.
Antony Pappusamy is the serving Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madurai in India.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Hosur is an Eastern Catholic eparchy headquartered in Tamil Nadu, India, under the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. It was established by Pope Francis on 10 October 2017, and Mar Sebastian Pozholiparampil was appointed its first bishop. The cathedral is St. Antony's Syro-Malabar Catholic Cathedral Church at Noothenchery and the bishop's chancellory is at St. Thomas Pastoral Centre Ayanavaram.
Nazarene Soosai is a Roman Catholic Bishop who is currently serving as the Bishop of Kottar diocese. He is the sixth bishop of Kottar diocese.
Stephen Antony Pillai mononymously known as Stephen is the Indian bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tuticorin.
Michael Xavier Leo Arokiaraj is an Indian clerical lawyer.