Mar Thoma Theological Institute
Learning Online
Mar Thoma Sleeha Syro Malabar Cathedral
Our Patron
Theological Studies for Adults
Our Background
We cannot love God and live a holy life without sound doctrine because we need to know who God is and how He works in our lives. To a person, we need to know well the person we love. This is true of loving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His Church. Therefore, just having Jesus is not enough, we need to know who He is, what He means to us, what he is expecting from us, and what the scripture means.
Our History
Recognizing the responsibility of the Church and individuals to arrange opportunities to learn scriptures and strengthen our faith, Rev. Fr. Thomas Kadukapillil and Rev. Dr.George Danavelil discussed the possibilities of establishing a systematic theology study program for the adults. After making all arrangements with the president of Paurastya Vidyapitham, Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, Rev. Dr. Andrews Mekkattukunnel, we announced the first theology course for our diocesan community. Our first program was a Two-Year Diploma Course in Theology. The program covered 24 courses. The study material was supplied by the respective professors of Pontifical Oriental Institute, Vadavathoor, Kottayam, India. The Cathedral Parish in Bellwood, Illinois. arranged a special classroom in the Building located at 5010 St.Charles Road, Bellwood, Illinois. The first session started on July 14, 2019.
After conducting six subjects in the classroom, the pandemic forced us to move to an online platform. We continued our classes on a Web-Ex platform and the professors from Vadavathoor were coming online to introduce the classes they were teaching. Forty Six students successfully completed the program and the diploma was conferred in a graduation ceremony on February 5, 2022, at the cathedral.
President, Pontifical Oriental Institute