Father George Kudilil
Satna: St.Ephrem’s Theological College at Satna in Madhya Pradesh has completed 25 years.
The silver jubilee celebrations of the mission major seminary for central India are scheduled for October 3-4.
The seminary started by Bishop Mar Abraham D Mattam of Satna in 1992 has been taken over by the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church three years ago. It is now the Oriental Church’s official mission seminary. It is the fourth and the only synodal seminary of the Church outside Kerala, the Church’s base.
A commission elected by the synod manages the seminary’s administration. Its current members are Bishop Joseph Kodakallil of Satna (chairman), Bishop Sebastian Vadakkel of Ujjain and Auxiliary Bishop Raphael Thattil of Thrissur. Its rector is Father Joseph Ottapurackal, a priest of Satna diocese.
The Seminary was inaugurated on July, 1992 at Edessa, the pastoral center of Satna diocese. Later it was transferred to its present location at Barakala village on the Satna-Chitrakoot highway, 15 km from Satna city.
The first advisory council comprised Bishops Mattam, John Perumattam of Ujjain and Dominic Kokkatt of Gorakhpur and Father Mathew Vaniakizhakkel, provincial of Vincentians. The first rector was Vincentian Father Antony Plackal.
So far, the seminary has produced 299 priests in 22 batches of theology students. Most of them are from the Syro Malabar mission dioceses outside Kerala and Syro Malabar congregations. In 2005 the seminary was affiliated to Paurasthya Vidya Peetham at Vadavathoor, Kottayam, Kerala. This enabled the seminary to confer Bachelor of Theology degree to those successfully completing the four year theological studies.
This year the seminary has 25 deacons in the final year preparing for ordination. It has currently 68 seminarians undergoing formation under the guidance of six resident staff members and 25 visiting teachers. They are from Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states, belonging to Syro Malabar and Syro Malankara Churches and congregations.
The renowned Indian theological review, “Ephrem’s Theological Journal,” is edited by the staff members. It started publication in 1996. Ephrem’s Publications from the seminary has published nine books.
The focus of formation at the seminary is on missionary training suitable for the cultural and religious ambience of the north Indian states. The seminary’s hallmark is the contextual formation attuned to the Eastern spiritual traditions and cultural ethos of the land. Weekly visits to some 20 villages around the seminary is part of the life of the seminarians.
Around 800 children from these villages attend “Ekta Diwas” (unity day) conducted in the seminary on January 26, India’s Republic Day. The seminarians in small groups spend two weeks every year in the villages of Madhya Pradesh and or neighboring states. This helps them share the life of the villagers and understand a realistic picture of the ground Indian reality. They also become well versed in Hindi.
The concluding sessions of the silver jubilee will begin on October 3 Mass offered by priests of last academic year. All former students are expected to attend the jubilee family gathering on that day.
On October 4, Cardinal George Alencherry, the Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church, will lead the Mass. Many dignitaries from religious and civic life will attend a public meeting after the Mass.
A jubilee commemorative volume, “Mission and Contextual Formation,” will be released at the meeting. Convocation of the outgoing batch of students also will be held in the same meeting.
As part of the jubilee celebration, a seminar on “Challenges of Institutionalization: Rethinking Evangelization,” was conducted September 8. An exhibition highlighting the ‘Syro Malabar Missionary World of the Syro Malabar Church in North India’ is arranged in the seminary in connection with the jubilee.