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* By Liju Cherian
“The foundation of a church is based upon the purity of life led by the clergy, their vision, purity, and knowledge and how it is imparted. They should follow and spread Christ’s divine vision amidst the present widespread use of social media,” said His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II, Supreme Head of the Indian Orthodox Church.
The Catholicos of the East & Malankara Metropolitan of Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Syrian Church was delivering the presidential address after inaugurating the Silver Jubilee celebrations of St Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur.
The seminary set up in 1994 in a village in Kalmeshwar, about 25 kilometres away from Nagpur city, in the central Indian state of Maharashtra.
Also called Nagpur seminary, it is the second theological seminary of the Orthodox Church catering to the needs of the diaspora population. The seminary provides a stage for fruitful dialogues of Christian theologians with people of other faith.
His Holiness hailed the seminary for molding youngsters into mature individuals inculcating missionary and modern teaching methodologies.
The Orthodox primate said the celebrations marked a new chapter for the church and paid rich tributes to the sacrifices made by late lamented bishops towards setting up the seminary.
The Catholicos launched the year-long celebrations by lighting the traditional lamp at the 204-year-old Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kottayam, Kerala, also known as Old Seminary, and the first Orthodox Christian School of theology in Asia.
Tracing the earlier days of the seminary, His Grace Geevarghese Mar Coorilos Metropolitan, Mumbai Diocese, in his welcome address, mentioned how it became a milestone for the Orthodox fraternity in the field of theological education.
The St Thomas Seminary is also open for women of the Orthodox Church, who wish to study theology and to reflect on the challenges of the world where their ideas will be influencing the theology of the church.
* Liju Cherian is a print media journalist
