Kerala: Venerable Father Panjikaran, founder of Dharmagiri Hospital
Leo XIV authorised the promulgation of the decree on the heroic virtues of the Syro-Malabar priest who lived between 1888 and 1949. A great intellectual, he was always attentive to the needs of the poor and the sick. For them, he founded the "Mount of Charity" and the Medical Sisters of Saint Joseph, who continue to care for everyone in India, without distinction of religion or caste.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Another great individual who served with charitable services offered by Catholics in India could soon be among the blessed of the Catholic Church.
One of the new decrees Pope Leo XIV authorised today promulgates the heroic virtues of Father Joseph Panjikaran (1888-1949), a priest of the Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam in Kerala, founder of the Congregation of the Medical Sisters of Saint Joseph (also known in India as the Dharmagiri Sisters).
With the recognition of his heroic virtues, Fr Panjikaran officially became venerable, and now his beatification only requires the recognition of a miracle performed through his intercession.
Born on 10 September 1888 into a well-to-do, long-established Catholic family in Uzhuva, a village in Kerala’s Allappuzha District, the young Joseph graduated in history from St. Joseph's College in Thiruchirappally and completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Madras in 1913.
Among the Syro-Malabar Christians of Kerala, he was the first to earn a postgraduate degree in any discipline. However, he gave up his academic career for the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1918 for the Catholic diocese of Ernakulam.
From 1921, he served in the local church as director of the Propagation of the Faith, putting not only his intellectual gifts but also his writing as a journalist in the service of the cause.
A pioneer in communications, he founded Satyadeepam (Light of Truth), the archeparchy’s weekly paper in 1927.
That same year, he opened Satyavedashram (ashram of the true faith) in his parish in Uzhuva, a place where everyone could come and discuss matters of faith.
For him, evangelisation was inseparable from a heart open to the needs of the poor. He visited the shacks of the most disadvantaged, irrespective of caste distinctions.
He saw their needs. And as early as 1934, when health was not considered a priority, he opened a hospital called Dharmagiri (Mount of Charity) in Kothamangalam, Kerala, for anyone who could not afford treatment elsewhere.
There he also founded the Medical Sisters of Saint Joseph, a congregation entirely dedicated to the ministry of healing.
He died on 4 November 1949, following a massive heart attack, and his mortal remains were laid to rest in the Dharmagiri cemetery in Kothamangalam.
His legacy continues today through the congregation, which has more than 800 nuns, who serve in 90 centres across India and around the world.
The hospital he founded is now a large facility with over 300 beds, offering affordable care to everyone.
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