Senior-most priest of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and manager of the Mar Kuriakose Dayara at Pothenpuram P.C. Yohannan Ramban, died of a heart attack on Saturday morning. He was 74. His body will be interred in a specially-constructed crypt at the Mar Kuriakose Dayara Chapel on Wednesday, Church authorities said.Born in an agrarian family in Pampady as the fourth of five sons, he was called to spiritual service by the late Kuriakose Mar Gregorios Metropolitan, one of the declared saints of the Orthodox Church, at an early age. At the age of 22, he was ordained a priest by his spiritual guide and mentor himself. He was elevated as Ramban (abbot) of the Mar Kuriakose Dayara in 1983. Yohannan Ramban was active in public life, being the member of the Managing Committee of the Orthodox Church, president of the Kerala State Orphanages Association, general convener of the Kerala Madya Virudha Munnani and head of Asha Kiran, a rehabilitation centre for AIDS-afflicted persons. He was also instrumental in the founding of Abhaya Bhavan, a home for the destitute; Balabhavan, home for destitute children; Mar Ivanios ITC; BMM English Medium School and Kuriakose Gregorios (KG) College in the close vicinity of the Dayara. He had led many an agitation against government’s liquor policies.His active public life also earned him friends and well-wishers across the various Christian denominations and outside his community. His was a powerful voice in ecumenical and inter-religious discourses and was a voice of moderation when extreme voices tried to hijack the Orthodox-Jacobite rivalry.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
P.C. Yohannan Ramban Dead
Senior-most priest of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and manager of the Mar Kuriakose Dayara at Pothenpuram P.C. Yohannan Ramban, died of a heart attack on Saturday morning. He was 74. His body will be interred in a specially-constructed crypt at the Mar Kuriakose Dayara Chapel on Wednesday, Church authorities said.Born in an agrarian family in Pampady as the fourth of five sons, he was called to spiritual service by the late Kuriakose Mar Gregorios Metropolitan, one of the declared saints of the Orthodox Church, at an early age. At the age of 22, he was ordained a priest by his spiritual guide and mentor himself. He was elevated as Ramban (abbot) of the Mar Kuriakose Dayara in 1983. Yohannan Ramban was active in public life, being the member of the Managing Committee of the Orthodox Church, president of the Kerala State Orphanages Association, general convener of the Kerala Madya Virudha Munnani and head of Asha Kiran, a rehabilitation centre for AIDS-afflicted persons. He was also instrumental in the founding of Abhaya Bhavan, a home for the destitute; Balabhavan, home for destitute children; Mar Ivanios ITC; BMM English Medium School and Kuriakose Gregorios (KG) College in the close vicinity of the Dayara. He had led many an agitation against government’s liquor policies.His active public life also earned him friends and well-wishers across the various Christian denominations and outside his community. His was a powerful voice in ecumenical and inter-religious discourses and was a voice of moderation when extreme voices tried to hijack the Orthodox-Jacobite rivalry.
