PT Givergis Paniker Karichal

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Rev. P.T. Givergis Paniker Karichal was a priest, educator, and astrologer of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He belonged to the Panicker family and was the 39th priest in that line. He served as the vicar of St. George Malankara Syrian Catholic Church and as the headmaster of St Mary’s U.P. School in Karichal.

Born on 19 February 1912 in Karichal, Alappuzha, Kerala, he was the youngest son of Thomas Panicker and Mariyama Thomas Panicker. He studied at the M.D. Seminary of the Orthodox Jacobite Church of Kerala and was ordained a deacon on 3 June 1928 by Geevarghese Dionysius of Vattasseril. He married Aleyamma in 1929. Influenced by the Reunion Movement led by Mar Ivanios, he joined the Catholic Church in 1931.

He was ordained a priest on 19 May 1936 by Archbishop Geevarghese Mar Ivanios and became the first married deacon to be ordained priest in the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church. Although he did not formally study in a Catholic seminary, he grew into a leading theologian of the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church. His deep interest in the Antiochene liturgy and the Syriac language helped him shed new light on the meanings of the church’s liturgical rites. He contributed the important article “The Holy Qurbono in the Syro-Malankara Church” to a work on the Eucharistic liturgy in the Christian East.

His notes and diaries on the Malankara Rite liturgy were published posthumously in two volumes by his son Fr. P.G. Thomas Paniker. He taught at the Pontifical Seminary, Alway, where his lectures were valued for their originality and depth.

Fr. Givergis lived in Karichal with his wife and children, serving his community faithfully until his death on 23 October 1986 at the age of 74. His priesthood golden jubilee was celebrated on 19 May 1986. His main work is The Holy Qurbono – in the Syro Malankara Church.