Placid J. Podipara


Mar Podipara Ouseph Placid Malpan also known as Vishuda Placidachan was an Indian Catholic priest and scholar of the St. Thomas Christian community. He was a scholar in East Syriac language and liturgy. A book published on the tenth anniversary of his death calls him one of the greatest ecclesiastical luminaries of the 20th century in India. He was a member of the Syro Malabar Church and was ordained a priest from the Eastern Catholic religious institute of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. He was also a theologian, liturgist, orator, professor, ecumenist, and author.
He worked hard to remove the liturgical latinisation of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church and also was vital in defecting the Syro Malankara Catholic Church to the Catholic fold. He wrote more than thirty seven books and numerous articles on Saint Thomas Christians in languages including English, Malayalam, German and Latin. He was a Member of the Pontifical commission for codifying Canon Law, Syriac Language examiner of Kerala University, Consultant to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, Member of Pontifical commission for restoring the Holy Qurbana of Syro Malabar Church, Professor of Pontifical Oriental Institute and Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome, Consultant for preparing the agenda of Second Vatican Council. He had doctorates in Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law which he acquired during his time in Rome.

Early life

Placid was born Joseph into the Podipara family as the fifth and last child of Chacko and Rosamma in the village, Arpookara, near Kottayam in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. He lost his mother at the age of four and his father at the age of seven. He completed his schooling from St. Ephrem's High School, Mannanam which was run by Syrian Carmelite fathers. He entered the novitiate in 1918 and was given a new name, Placid of St. Joseph. Later he was sent to St. Joseph's Seminary, Mangalore run by the Italian Jesuits, for his ecclesiastical studies where he did two years of philosophy and four years of theology. He was ordained priest on 3 December 1927 at Mangalore and celebrated his first Holy Qurbana in St. Joseph's Monastery chapel, Mannanam. As his superiors needed someone qualified to teach in the major seminary, he was sent to Rome for further studies. During his first stint in Rome, which lasted only two years, he acquired doctorates in the fields philosophy, theology and canon law.

Final years

He met with an accident in 1960 which left him with a limp until the end of his life. He returned from Rome in 1980 and continued his studies from Chethipuzha. Towards the last days he was bed-ridden due to partial paralysis which affected his power of speech. He died on 27 April 1985.

Legacy

Father Placid's description of the St. Thomas Christians as "Hindu in Culture, Christian in Religion and Oriental in Worship" continues to be quoted.

Major works

1. The Syrian Church of Malabar: Its Catholic Communion
2. The Church of Seleucia and its Catholic Roman Communion
3. The South Indian Apostolate of St. Thomas
4. The Efforts for Reunion in Malankara, South India
5. Portuguese Religious Conquests in Malabar under the Diocese of Cochin during the Sixteenth Century.
6. A Short History of the Malabar Church
7. The Malabarians
8. The Malankarians
9. The Thomas Christians
10. The Varthamanappusthakam
11. The Malabar Christians
12. The Hierarchy of the Syro-Malabar Church
13. Four Essays on the Pre-Seventeenth Century Church of St. Thomas Christians of India
14. The Rise and Decline of the Indian Church of the St. Thomas Christians
15. The Latin Rite Christians of Malabar
16. De Fontibus Iuris Ecclesiastici Syro-Malankarensium
17. Fontes Iuris Canonici Syro-Malankarensium
18. The Social and Socio-Ecclesiastical Customs of the Syrian Christians of India
19. The Catholic Syrians of Malabar and the Motu Proprio Crebrae Allatae
20. Oriental Marriage Legislation
21. The Syro-Malabarians, their life and their Activities
22. Hindu in Culture, Christian in Religion, Oriental in Worship
23. The Thomas Christians and Adaptation
24. The Individuality of the Malabar Church
25. The Canonical Sources of the Syro-Malabar Church.
26. Memorandum to His Eminence Eugene Cardinal Tisserant
27. The Present Syro-Malabar Liturgy: Menezian or Rozian?
28. Notes on some Clerical and Liturgical Matters
29. Further Extension of the Malabar Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in India
30. The Thomas Christians and their Syriac Treasures
31. The Thomas Christians of Malabar and the Chaldean Liturgy
32. Reflections on Liturgy
33. The Christology of Babai the Great and the Non-Catholic East Syrians or Nestorians
34. Mariology of the Church of the East
35. Malayalam and Syriac and the Syro-Malabarians
36. Eugene Cardinal Tisserant - Reminiscences
37. നവംബർ മാസത്തിലും തോമ്മാശ്ലീഹാ
38. മാർത്തോമ്മാശ്ലീഹായും പാലയൂർ പള്ളിയും
39. കേരള നസ്രാണികളും ദേശസഞ്ചാരികളും
40. ഉദയമ്പേരൂർ സൂനഹദോസ്
41. മൈലാപ്പൂർ
42. കേരളത്തിലെ മാർത്തോമ്മാ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികൾ
43. മാർത്തോമ്മാ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളുടെ വളർച്ചയും തളർച്ചയും
44. മാർത്തോമ്മാ ക്രിസ്ത്യാനികളും അനുരൂപണവും
45. കേരളസഭയുടെ വ്യക്തിത്വം
46. നമ്മുടെ റീത്ത്
47. പുരാതനമായ ഒരു കൈയെഴുത്തു പുസ്തകം
48. അന്ത്യോക്യാ പാത്രിയർക്കീസ്
49. ദൈവമാതാവും യാക്കോബായ വിശ്വാസവും
50. പൗരസ്ത്യസഭകൾ
51. അകത്തോലിക്കു വാദങ്ങൾക്ക് കത്തോലിക്കു പ്രത്യുത്തരം
52. യാക്കോബായക്കാരുടെ പുനരൈക്യം
53. എഫേസൂസ് സൂനഹദോസും റോമാമാർപ്പാപ്പായും
54. ഏകസ്വഭാവവാദം
55. മാർപ്പാപ്പായുടെ പരമാധികാരവും അപ്രമാദിത്വവും
56. തിരുസഭയും മാർപ്പാപ്പായും
57. ഓർത്തഡോക്സ് സഭയും പരമാധികാരവും
58. കൂനൻ കുരിശിനു മുൻപ്
59. നമ്മുടെ കണ്ണുകൾ ഭാഗ്യമുള്ളവ
60. അന്ത്യോക്യായിൽ എന്തുണ്ട് ?
61. കേരളസഭയൂം ഇതരസഭകളും
62. ചെങ്കടലിലെ സ്മരണകൾ
63. ഗുരുപ്പട്ട സുവർണ്ണ ജൂബിലി
64. ഇന്നത്തെ ബേസ്ലഹം
65. ലൂതറിനു മുമ്പുണ്ടായിരുന്ന വേദപുസ്തകം
66. തത്വപ്രകാശിക
67. മിശിഹായുടെ രാജത്വം
68. കത്തോലിക്കാ മതപഠനം
69. പരിശുദ്ധ ത്രിത്വം
70. കത്തോലിക്കാ വിദ്യാലയങ്ങളിലെ പണിമുടക്ക്
71. രണ്ട് അവിഭാജ്യ ഘടകങ്ങൾ
72. പ്രാർത്ഥന
73. വി. ഫ്രാൻസിസ്കോസിന്റെ മൂന്നാം സഭ
74. പ. കന്യാമറിയത്തിന്റെ സ്വർഗ്ഗാരോഹണം
75. മരിയഭക്തിയും കേരള സുറിയാനി കത്തോലിക്കരും
76. സ്വകാര്യസ്വത്ത്
77. കാല്പാടുകൾ
78. കുടമാളൂർ ചരിത്രത്തിലൂടെ
79. കുർബാന: ബലിയും ദിവ്യഭോജനവും
80. Die Thomas-Christen