Mar Antony Chirayath
1941–
Third Bishop of Sagar (2006–2018), the second bishop from Aranattukara parish
Mar Antony Chirayath was born in 1941 into the Chirayath family of Aranattukara. The family is an old one in the parish. The book lists it among the households that stayed loyal to Rome during the troubles of the 1870s, and among those that promised help to St. Chavara for the Elthuruth monastery.
Schooling
He studied at Tharakans School. In 1958 he passed the tenth standard from St. Aloysius High School, Elthuruth, the school that later grew into St. Aloysius College. He then spent two years at St. Augustine’s Minor Seminary in Jabalpur.
In 1964 he graduated in political science from Nagpur University, first in his class and with the gold medal. He studied philosophy and theology at St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur, and was ordained a priest of the Sagar diocese on 2 January 1970.
Serving the Sagar diocese
The same year he became the diocese’s chancellor and director of social service. The book records that from 1972 he also worked with the Vatican office for the pastoral care of migrants.
On 2 February 2006 he was installed as the third Bishop of Sagar, following Bishop Joseph Pastor Neelankavil, another son of the same parish. During his time as bishop, the cathedral at Sagar and the Dayasagar pilgrim centre were completed. He retired in 2018 and continues his ministry at Dayasagar.
He is the second bishop to come from Aranattukara parish. The book sees the two bishops as a sign of the faith handed down in the parish since Chavara’s day.
Related
Tharakan's School, Aranattukara
The parish school beside St. Thomas Church, which grew from a village writing school into Tharakan's High School and taught generations of Aranattukara children.
St. Aloysius College, Elthuruth
The CMI college at Elthuruth, which grew from a small boarding school for boys opened beside the monastery around 1889.
St. Thomas Church, Aranattukara
The parish church at the heart of Aranattukara, whose story runs from a first church in 1796, through a long division, to reunion in 1964 and the church we see today.
The Schools That Shaped Aranattukara
From village writing schools taught by Hindu teachers to Tharakan's School, the girls' high schools and St. Aloysius College at Elthuruth, this is how Aranattukara learned to read, and how its classrooms helped heal a divided parish.