On the threshold of the new millennium, the Diocese of Cochin has had, Deo gratia, the unique privilege to be picked to relish and cherish the celestial benign benison betokened by the Episcopal Ordination of a new shepherd to tend to the fold and guide, edify and sanctify the flock. Rt. Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal was the one divinely designated to wear the mitre and carry the crosier of the Diocese. Bright and pleasant despite the monsoon, that Sunday, 25th June, 2000, thus goes down the annals of history as the beginning of the reign of the 34th Bishop, the third native prelate after the late Rev. Dr. Alexander Edezhath and late Rev. Dr. Joseph Kureethara, to herd the old and historic Diocese of Cochin, once a mother diocese of the sub-continent!

A tiny little screech reverberated within the Thattumkal household when a baby, later to be christened with the name of the ‘Voice in the Wilderness’ was brought to bed by Mrs. Mary Joseph as the second of the six children of the privileged pair, Mr. Joseph (Pappu) and Mrs. Mary Thattumkal, on June 23, 1950, at Thazhappu, a small hamlet in Kuthiathode village of Alappuzha district. Justifying their appellations as befitting those of their name-sakes at Bethlehem, Joseph toiled hard as a manual labourer to keep the family pot boiling, while Mary mended the fire and tended to the bundle of their blissful blessings - their progeny!To focus the family on a full frame, the first born is Mr. Antony, an Ex-Service man, currently involved with the activities of Matt India Society, Ezhupunna. The third one is Mr. Xavier, an officer with the State Bank of India, now posted at Ernakulam. Then comes Mrs. Mary Grace Joseph (Kunjachan) Palampilly, who, following her mother’s footsteps finds fulfilment at her mission as a wife and a mother at Perumpadappu. The fifth one is Mr. Joy and he serves the Matt India Medical Centre, Ezhupunna, as its Director. The youngest is Mrs. Rita Roy Arackal, Manjummal, a teacher at St. Joseph’s School, Chullickal.Little John has had an arduous trek all along the rough and stony path, providentially paved with penury and privations. Destined thus, the circumstances have designed and moulded in the boy a personality of humane outlook, amiable approach, benevolent attitude and benign bent. While the father was striving and sweating to make both ends meet, the son was climbing his academic steps and ascending the spiritual rungs.

As a student at St. Francis Assisi High School, Arthunkal, John became assiduous at activities scholastic and spiritual. A daily participant at the Eucharistic celebrations at St. Andrew’s Church, Arthunkal, a famous pilgrim centre, the young scholar was attracted by and subsequently drawn into the charitable pious association, St. Vincent de Paul Society. Trickles of the warm feelings of fulfilment from the endeavours with the Society slowly opened in him a spring of joy as evinced by the inner urge to lead a life of charity, which, in time evolved into a channel of yearning for the divine call to consecrated life.Thus, having successfully completed his S.S.L.C. Course, young John sought admission to the Mt. Carmel Petit Seminary at the Bishop’s House, Fort Cochin, in 1966. The first to heed to the call from his native Kuthiathode, he was accepted with great affection by the first native bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Alexander Edezhath. The very next year he had the privilege and the happiness to have his would be predecessor, Rev. Dr. Joseph Kureethara, as Rector. Observing, analysing and appraising the concealed qualities and latent potentialities of Br. John, the rector recommended to the bishop that the young seminarian be sent to Rome for further studies. True to divine providence, Br. John had a rare gift from the Almighty in the shape of a special scholarship to pursue his studies in philosophy and theology at Collegio Urbano of Propaganda Fide, Vatican!Commitment and diligence paid copious dividends in the form of certificates – Master’s Degree in Philosophy in 1971 and Bachelor’s Degree in Theology in 1974. During those strenuous days, he was a regular visitor to the Generalate of the Fathers of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo - The Little House of Divine Providence – Turin, where he shared with the fathers the joy of rendering services to the poor destitutes and the discarded, especially the terminally ill during his vacations. The invisible but inalienable rich inner harvest under the roof of the Little House of Divine Providence - Piccola Casa - left a deep and indelible impression on his mind. Quite so, Rev. Br. John sought permission from his Rector, Rev. Dr. Joseph Kureethara, to join the Congregation but as time had as yet not reached its maturity, the request, it appears, had been ordained to be turned down. Submitting without reserve to the Divine Will and accepting the decision with his whole heart, Br. John continued his scholastic mission and having completed his studies, returned to the Diocese. His Excellency Rt. Rev. Dr. Alexander Edezhath presided over the Sacerdotal Ordination of Rev. Br. John Thattumkal, the last one officiated by the bishop, at St. Xavier’s Church, Eramalloor, on August 3, 1974.After a stint of diocesan service, Rev. Fr. John was sent back to Rome to pursue his doctoral studies, both in Canon and Civil Laws. During the first year the Rev. Father resumed, as of old, his regular visits to the Little House of Divine Providence of the Cottolengo Community. Young Fr. John Thattumkal completed his course, came through with flying colours and was awarded his Doctorate on 5th November 1979. His dissertation "The Caste System and the Catholic Church in India" has already been published by the Urban University, Rome. The thesis, a virtual treatise on the subject, subsequently caught the attention of many and became the epicentre of several discussions in 1980s.

By the time Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal returned to the Diocese, his former Rector, Rev. Dr. Joseph Kureethara, had already been consecrated to the See of Cochin. His Excellency entrusted many an important office with Rev. Dr. John, which included those of the Pro - Chancellor, the Diocesan Consultant, the Chancellor and the Procurator. As Procurator, Rev. Dr. John played a crucial role in making many a dream of the prelate a reality, significant among which was the establishment of the first institute if higher learning, Aquinas College, at Edacochin. He was also vested with the responsibility of the office of Judicial Vicar of the Ecclesiastical (Marriage) Tribunal in February 1985 and later was made its Associate Judge.
Rev. Dr. John served the St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Aluva, as a Visiting Professor in Canon Law from 1985 to 1987. The Rev. Father took keen interest in the publication of a volume on the history of the Diocese of Cochin and albeit unrecorded as such in the work, His Reverence was its Editor. Having thus rendered unstinted service to his mother diocese in various capacities, he finally sought the prelate’s permission in 1987 to step aside from the regular route of a secular priest and take the narrower, more arduous and hazardous trail of a religious. The request must have been in the fullness of time; for, the bishop this time could not have the heart to deny but duly grant him permission. And the Rev. Father set out to his destination, The Little House of Divine Providence, Turin, with no waste of time. After an year of novitiate at Turin, Italy, Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal took the initial vows of the Order on 15th November, 1988.Before his final vows on 7th October, 1991, Rev. Dr. Thattumkal had the privilege to serve his former Alma Mater, Collegio Urbano of Propaganda Fide in the Eternal City as Vice - Rector, fortunately under the Professor, Rev. Dr. Daniel Acharuparambil, (now Archbishop of Verapoly) who was the Rector Magnificus of the University then. Upon making his final profession, the energetic and enterprising Father of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo returned home on January 20, 1993, aspiring to initiate an institute of the Congregation in the land of his birth. The mission was accomplished in a matter of months and the first House of the Community with a seminary in India was established near North Paravur on 31st October, with Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal as the first Rector.

Just months later, the Rector was again entrusted with an office and was invested as the Consultant but now to the Diocese of Kopttappuram, within the jurisdiction of which the House is located. The seminary perhaps became consequential in the creation of a new parish, the Parish of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, at Paravur. It was in the least surprising when the Rector himself was appointed as the primus pastor to guard and guide the herd on the new pasture by Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Kallarackal, Bishop of the Diocese of Kottappuram. Nor did it take long or deep deliberation on the part of His Excellency to vest the office of the Judicial Vicar also with the scholarly Vicar of Paravur.

Though overburdened with the responsibilities of various offices, Rev. Dr. Thattumkal zealously and joyously pursued his favourite vocation - teaching. Besides teaching at the Diocesan School of Religious Studies, North Paravur, the Rev. Father was entertaining classes as Professor in Philosophy of Man and Philosophy of God at the Sacred Heart College of Philosophy and St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, both in Aluva and serving as Professor in Canon Law at Jyothirbhavan, Institute of Theology and Spirituality at Kalamassery. It will be an injustice to history to ignore the fact, though little known, that the Professor was much sought after by various dioceses as preacher of retreats to priests.To get back to the mother diocese, Cochin, that Tuesday, 5th January, 1999, dawned on the Church with the sky heavily overcast, symbolic of the sudden, serious shortage – the sad demise of Rt. Rev. Dr. Joseph Kureeethara. Ever since, the Diocese was on her knees at fervent prayers for the gift of a shepherd to tend to the fold and lead and herd the flock. Meanwhile, Very Rev. Dr. Josey Kandanattuthara, the brisk and buoyant Apostolic Administrator, with an old head on his young shoulders, an endearing smile and winsome ways, tenderly took care of the bishopric with his endearing approach, innate diligence and conscientious commitment.Finally, in answer to the supplications of the tens of thousands of lay and anointed to the Almighty Father, came the announcement of the Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, at 4.00 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, 2000, that in the pastor of Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal had His Holiness found the prelate to lead the ancient diocese. Simultaneously, the Papal Decree was read out to a small gathering of Priests, secular and religious, Sisters of various Congregations and not a small number of the flock by the Apostolic Administrator, Very Rev. Dr. Josey Kandanattuthara, at the Bishop’s House, Fort Cochin. Following the public announcement, His Excellency Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Kallarackal, Bishop of the Diocese of Kottappuram, officiated at the symbolic investiture of the Bishop-Elect, Rt. Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal, with the Episcopal Ring, Chain and Cross and the red sash.The historic event of the Diocese yet to be officially accomplished justified a fitting celebration for which the jubilant Diocese, especially the exultant flock, was getting geared. It was perhaps in the divine design rather to grant the innate inclination and silent longing for simplicity of the humble shepherd that it so chanced that an illustrious prince of the Church in India, His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Alan de Lastic, Archbishop of Delhi, was called to his eternal reward in those days. It left no alternative but to respect the reasonable request of the designate then on the grounds of this great loss to the Church in the country to cut short all the pre-arranged festivities and confine the celebrations to a simple reception.

The Santa Cruz Cathedral Basilica, Fort Cochin, subsequently became the venue for the Episcopal Ordination of the new Bishop on 25th June, 2000. During a sublime and solemn ceremony presided over by His Grace, the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Acharuprambil, Archbishop of Verapoly, as the Principal Ordaining Prelate, Rt. Rev. Dr. Peter Chenapparambil, Bishop of Alappuzha and Rt. Rev. Dr. Francis Kallarackal, Bishop of Kottappuram, as Co-Ordaining Prelates and with Rt. Rev. Dr. Soosai. M. Pakiam, Bishop of Trivandrum as the Prelate to deliver the homily, the designate, Rt. Rev. Dr. John Thattumkal, was consecrated as the 34th Bishop of the historic Diocese of Cochin, once a mother diocese to the sub-continent! Deo gratias!!