Biographical Note on Rev .Fr. George
Madathiparampil
Rev. Fr.George Madathiparampil had his
primary school education at St.Michael’s School, Thathampally ,Alleppey and later
his high school education at Leo X111 High School. While he was at high school,
he represented the school as a delegate for the MCSL meeting at Kottayam. He
joined the Minor Seminary at Parel, Changnacherry in 1956. H took his B.Sc. in
Physics from St. Berchmans’ College in 1960 and then joined the Pontifical
Seminary , Alwaye, in 1961 for his philosophical and theological studies. Took
his B.D. from the Lateran University while studying at the Pontifical Seminary.
He was ordained a priest of the Arch diocese of Changancherry by Archbishop Mar
Matthew Kavukattu on Dec.18,1967. Immediately after the ordination, the
Archbishop sent him for higher studies at St.Berchmans’ College, Changanacherry
.
He was appointed a lecturer there in the
Dept. of English in 1970. He was appointed the Chief Editor of the Jubilee
souvenir of the college in I972.
After teaching at St.Berchmans’ college for
six years, left for the United States in Dec.1976 for doctoral studies. He took
a Master’s degree in American Literature from Indiana State University in 1978
. He was appointed a
Teaching Assistant in the Dept of English and also the Associate Editor of the Black American
Literature Forum of the University. In 1978, he joined the Catholic University
of America, Washington D.C. for his Ph.D. in English Literature. He was
appointed a Fellow of the Department of English and was given a teaching
position. He took his Ph.D. from there
in 1981 and returned to India to join
the College. From 1981 onwards, he continued teaching at the Catholic
University, Washington D.C.as a visiting Professor in the Dept of Comparative
Literature.
During the years of study at the Indiana
State University as well as at the Catholic University, he worked in the Campus Ministry of both the Universities as
one of their resident Chaplains.
He was elected to the Priests’ Senate of the
Archdiocese of Changancherry a few times and worked as the Treasurer of the
Priests’ Provident Fund of the Archdiocese.
He taught at S.B. College for 26 years while holding
several positions as a hostel warden, AICUF Chaplain, Editor of the college
magazine, Bursar and Vice-Principal. He was also a member of the Senate and a
member of the postgraduate Board of Studies of
M. G. University. He was also a research guide for doctoral students in
English Literature and guided two teachers for Ph.D.
It was while he was serving as the
Vice-Principal of the College that the President of India, Sri Zail Singh,
visited the college. Fr. George and Fr. Maroor who was the Principal went to
Delhi to invite the President to inaugurate the Silver Jubilee celebrations of
post graduate courses at S.B.College. That was the first time that a President
of India presided over a college function in Kerala.
Fr.George Madathiparampil was appointed the
Principal of St. Berchmans’ College in 1991 and after a stint of 5years as the
Principal , he retired in 1996.
Rev. George Madathiparampil, after his
retirement from S.B.college , was appointed the Vicar General of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar
Diocese of Chicago,U.S.A. Before moving
to Chicago, he worked as the Associate
Pastor at St. Patrick’s church, Washington D.C. and was also in charge of the
Syro-Malabar Catholics of the Washington area.
When he was the Principal, he took the
initiative of starting M.B.A. at St. Berchmans’ College. An interdisciplinary
academic journal, “S.B. Academic Review” was started during that time. He was
instrumental in establishing the Berchmans’ Institute of Computer Studies and the
Berchmans’ Institute of Management Studies. While he was the Principal, he was
successful in raising the college to a greater level of excellence in studies
as well as in extra-curricular activities. The college bagged a lot of trophies
in sports and games and became the University champions in sports for several
years. The college had a successful period of accomplishments without any
student strikes or disturbances. A large scale Science Exhibition and an Arts Festival were conducted which drew thousands
of students and parents to the campus. The Science Exhibition was inaugurated
by the then Speaker of the Lok Sabha Mr. Sivaraj Patil.
It was while he was the Principal that the
three –storied research Center was completed and a new three-storied Business Management
building was built.
Rev. Madathiparampil was elected the President
of AIACHE, the national association of all the Christian colleges in India , in
‘93. He was the first Catholic Principal from Kerala to be elected the
President of AIACHE(All India Association of Christian Higher Education) .
While he was the President, a lot of support
was given to member colleges to start job-oriented courses. It was while he was
the President of AIACHE that an International educational conference was held
in New Delhi where all the major Christian educational agencies in America and
Europe took part.
He was elected the President of the
Principals’ Council of Kerala in ‘93. As the President of the Principals’ Council,
he was successful in persuading the Govt. in starting job-oriented courses in
colleges and made several representations to the Govt. to introduce autonomy in
the colleges of Kerala.
Fr.Madathiparampil also worked as the
Secretary of the Education Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference
under Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil. In that capacity, he brought together all
those who worked in the Catholic educational field and organized several conferences
on autonomy , minority -rights and job-oriented courses. It was while he was
the Secretary that the Education Commission of the Bishops’ Conference that he persuaded
the Nayanar Govt. to change its policy on the appointment of Principals in
private colleges. Guide-lines for English medium schools run by the Catholic
Church were published while he was the Secretary.
He worked as the Secretary of the
Inter-Church Council for Education which was a committee consisting of the
delegates from the major Christian denominations in Kerala to co-ordinate the
educational policies of the various Christian Churches. He was actively
involved in formulating the educational policies of the Christian Churches in
Kerala. It was while he was the Secretary of the Inter-Church Council that the
Council took the decision to close down all the educational institutions of the
various Christian denominations for a day as a protest against the violence
perpetrated against the nuns in Gajaurala,U.P.
Fr.Madathiparampil was also elected to the
Executive Council of International Federation of Catholic Universities at their
annual meeting in Toulouse in France in 19991 as a delegate from Asia. One of
the meetings of the Executive Council was held at Changancherry under his
leadership. The Presidents of major Catholic Universities in America , Europe,South
America , Japan and Indonesia participated in that meeting.
He was responsible in raising St. Berchmans’
College to a higher level of educational excellence. The significant
achievements of the College in academic and extra- curricular fields earned for
the college the Sankar Award,the most prestigious educational award of the
State of Kerala, in 1996 and 1997.
After his retirement from St.Berchmans’
College, he taught at St.Thomas University, Miami , Florida for a year and then
moved to Washington D.C. to do pastoral work in the Archdiocese of Washington
and also to take care of the spiritual needs of the Syro-Malabar community
there. He was instrumental in establishing the Syro-Malabar community in
Washington D.C. when he was working as the Associate Pastor at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in 1978. It was while working there that he
met the Holy Father and Mother Teresa when they visited Washington D.C.
Fr.Madathiparampil wrote numerous articles in
the Deepika and the Manorama on educational
issues and has published books “ The
Prophecy in American Fiction” , “Recollections and Reflections” and “Christian
Higher Education”, “Classics in Spirituality” ,” New Perspectives” and “Words
on Fire”. His article on “The Convergence of Moral Vision in the Epics of India
and Paradise Lost” was published in the Stanford Literary Review of the
Stanford University.
While working in Washington, he gave a series
of lectures in Washington D.C. under the auspices of St. Patrick’s church from
1997-2002 on various religious and literary authors and on Christian
spirituality and mysticism. The Natural History Museum of the Smithsonian
invited Fr. Madathiparampil to give a talk on St. Thomas Christians of Kerala.
As the Vicar General of the Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago , he travelled to various cities in the U.S., visiting
parishes and motivating the people to come closer to the Syro-Malabar Rite. He
was also then working as the Chief Editor of the Syro-Malabar News which was
the official journal of the diocese.
After his return from the U.S., he was
appointed the Secretary of Higher Education and the Secretary of Public Affairs for the
Syro-Malabar Church. In that capacity , he organized several meetings and
conferences on issues related to Catholic
Higher Education
He is presently working as the Joint
Secretary of the Inter-Church Council at Mount St. Thomas, Kakkand,Kochi.
Parents:
Late
Mr.M.P.Joseph B.A.(Manager, State-Aided Bank of Travancore,Alleppey)
Late Mrs.Annamma
Joseph(Peedikayail,Edathua).
Parish;
St.Michael’s Church ,Thathampally,Alleppey.
Rev. George Madathiparampil
Secretary, Higher
Education
Secretary, Public
Affairs
Major Archiepiscopal Curia
Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad
Kochi-682 030
Date of Birth: Aug.22,1940
Ordination:Dec.18, 1967
Education:
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C. 1981
M.A., Indiana State University, Indiana, U.S.A. 1978
M.A., The University of Kerala, 1970
B.D.,
B.Sc.,The University of Kerala, 1960
Experience:
Pastoral:
Associate Pastor, St. Matthew’s Cathedral, Washington D.C.,1978-81
Associate Pastor, St. Patrick’s Church, Washington D.C.,1997-2002
Vicar General,
St. Thomas Syro-Malabar
Diocese of Chicago, 2001-11
Adviser, The committee for Ethnic Affairs, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops,2010-12
Academic
Teaching Assistant, Indiana State University, U.S.A.1977
Teaching Assistant, The Catholic University of America,U.S.A.,1978-81
Visiting Professor in the Dept. of Comparative Lit., The
Visiting Professor, St. Thomas University, Miami, Florida,1996-97
Principal (President),
St. Berchmans’ College, 1991-96
Vice Principal, St. Berchmans’ College, 1986-91
Professor, Dept. of English, St.Berchmans’College,1970-96
President of the All India Association of Christian Higher Education, Delhi(AIIACHE),(consisting of all the Christian colleges of India),1993-96
President of the Council of the Principals of the Private Colleges of Kerala,1993-96
Secretary, The Education Commission of the Bishops Council of Kerala(KCBC), India, 1986-1996
Secretary, Inter-Church Council for Education, 1990-96
Member of the Executive Council of the International Federation
of Catholic Universities (IFCU),
Research Guide, M.G. University
Member, PG Board of Studies, M. G. University
Member of the Senate, M. G. University
Books
Prophecy in American
Fiction,1982
“Christian Contribution to Higher Education in India”, by the International Federation of Catholic Universities, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Catholic Higher
Education,2014
Reflection and
Recollections,2015
New Perspectives,2016
Classics of
Spirituality,2017
Articles
Convergence of Visions: A Comparative Study of Indian Epics and the Paradise Lost, Stanford Literary Review, Stanford University, 1993.
Papers Presented:
“Ethnicity, Multi-Culturalism and Integration” International Seminar, Jerusalem,1994
“The Roots of Asian Spirituality,” The Asian –Pacific Seminar, Fordham University,N.Y.2009
“Causes of Poverty
and Unemployment”, Symposium, Conference of the Rectors of the
Universities,
“Immigrants and the Challenges to the Faith”, Eucharistic Congress of the Archdiocese of Washington D.C., Washington D.C.,2000
“Indian Christianity,
Seminar on Eastern Religions, Smithsonian Museum,
