A preacher and writer beyond boundaries Father Jose Maniparambil (spelled Maniparampil on some of his books), Numero Uno of Catholic Preacher-Writer, is unmatchable. His growth was rock steady and thoroughly deserved. The innovative style, insightful presentation and profound content of the breaking of the word of God have immortalized Fr. Jose and ensured him a place in the hearts of his audience, who opened up their hearts to God and Jesus Christ.
Father Jose was born on 18th February, 1964 (incidentally during the Second Vatican Council that aimed at new enthusiasm, a new joy and serenity and Fr Jose seems to fit the bill) in Trissur District of Kerala State (India) to Mr. Anthony and Mariyam. He is the seventh of nine children born to his parents. He has six brothers and two sisters, and his youngest brother Francis is a priest, working in Agra, India. He did his schooling at PVS High School, Parappukkara and he completed his Bachelor of Arts from Kerala University, Master of Arts from Calicut University and Doctorate in Sacred Scripture from St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bangalore, India.
While pursuing the studies for priesthood, he was twice dismissed from the seminary, though the first dismissal did not actually take place. But this set back did little to sway the hold of deep longing for priesthood. Eventually he was ordained on December 28, 1989 (again incidentally, the year of the fall of Berlin Wall!). In fact, Fr. Jose is well aware that the authorities did not dismiss him to destroy him, but rather they did not know what to do… Later, the rector who dismissed him from the seminary confessed to him and said: I took twenty years to understand you.
It is a little known fact that Jose at the age of 19 scribbled his first book about Twenty-Five World Leaders immediately after his re-entry to the seminary, but due to the pressure of the spiritual father, the book was never published. The Spiritual Father believed that Jose would never become a priest if he published the book!
But Jose couldn’t resist his passion for biblical literary works that he published his first book in 1988, though its actual writing had been completed in 1886, and he was just 22 year old! And this book, Word that is Sown (Vitakkapetta Vachanam), became the best seller among the Catholics in India. This began his leisure time career as a writer in Malayalam. The First Catholic Bible Encyclopedia (Bible Vijanankosam) was his brain child: he conceived this idea as a third year theology student (he was 23 years old), and worked as its Chief Executive Editor and this huge volume was published shortly after his ordination to priesthood. A workhorse he would write and publish four to five books in a year. The Catholic Church in India acknowledged his talents by extending to him Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference Award for Young Excellence (Yuva Pratibha Award) for his four volume commentary on the Gospels.
He made his foray into writing and publishing books in English through Reading the Synoptic Gospels: a Textbook for the Study of the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke and Reading the Fourth Gospel: A Textbook for the Study of St. John’s Gospel – both published in 2004. The latter has revised edition with a new title: The Gospel according to the Beloved Disciple. These are textbooks for the Gospels in many major seminaries in India, Philippines and Tanzania.
Now his books are available in Polish, German, English, Tamil and Malayalam. He preaches retreats and conducts conferences in many countries like Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Greece, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates…He preaches retreats for priests, nuns and lay people.
Immediately after the defence of his doctoral thesis in 2003, he was invited by Polish Salvatorian Priests in Tanzania, East Africa to teach sacred scripture in their major seminary, Salvatorian Institute of Philosophy and Theology, and that was first assignment as an official teacher of the sacred scriptures. He was a resident professor of the Bible at St. Ephrem’s Theological College, Satna (India) until he joined the staff of Tejas Vidyapeetha, Bangalore (India) in 2006. He has been a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Spirituality, the Spirituality Department of St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Bangalore (India). He has been a visiting faculty at Dhyanavana and Dhyanasadhana, Mysore, Rishivana at Mangalore. When his former bishop paid a visit to Tanzania, Father Julian, the Polish rector of Salvatorian institute made this comment about Father Jose: We have many professors here, but we have only star!
The hallmark of Fr. Jose’s preaching and writing is the lucidity of presentation of profound truths. He has a special art to combine genetics, space science, scientific theory of origin of the universe, atomic science, and theory of evolution when he teaches the Bible. As his bishop Pauly Kanookadan testified, ‘he teaches with authority.’ He can teach PhD students and an ordinary layman with the same precision. It is quite well-known fact that he doesn’t use a single sheet of notes even when he teaches students of Master’s level. He doesn’t prepare the classes, but his lectures flow from the storehouse of his vast knowledge. His friends call him ‘walking encyclopedia.’ Father Benjamin Chirayath, a priest of his diocese once remarked, ‘he is a man of less input and more output. We don’t see him studying or reading, but wisdom flow out of him incessantly!’ This is one of the reasons that he was known as ‘Bible Pandit’ (Bible Scholar) even when he did not have Master’s Degree in Theology. The Bible and his personality became so identified that many people did not know his name but called him ‘Bible Father’.
A thesis on Satan, Exorcism and Spirituality, first of its kind in the world, written by Rev. Dr. Thomas Vazhacharikkal was done under the guidance of Fr. Jose Maniparambil. A Dictionary of Canon Law, first of its kind in the world, was published by Biblia Academy of Fr. Jose. In fact, Fr. Maniparambil inspired Jose Pulickal to write this dictionary. There are many institutes where Masters in Canon Law is taught. But, they did not publish a Dictionary Canon Law. Biblia did it!
In the first year of his ordination (1990) He founded Biblia Academy of Sacred Sciences with a double purpose: breaking the Word of God to ordinary people and publish books on the Sacred Scriptures. He continues to be its Director. Biblia Academy has published not only the books of Fr Jose but of many eminent writers like Raymond E Brown, Fulton J Sheen, Laurie Beth Jones, Francis Van Thuan and Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, Antoine Saint-Exupery…
The selected sermons of Fr. Jose Maniparambil are available in DVD Video Format – 32 hours non-stop reflection on the Word of God. He tries to explain: If there is a God, he can only be Trinity. If there needs to be a savior for humanity, he has to be God and Man at the very same time and that he should be without personal sin and that his life (blood) was to be given as a substitute for human sins because without bloodshed there is no forgiveness of sins. We know only one person who fulfilled all these conditions and that is Jesus of Nazareth.
He is quite convinced that God, to whom he gives all credits for all his achievement, is the force guiding him through life and we see how he continues to leave footprints on the sands of time through the media of preaching, teaching, writing and above all his life-style.
Early Years
Fr Jose Maniparambil was born into a traditional catholic family of the St. Thomas Christians of Kerala, India. His father Anthony was a farmer and mother Mariyam a house-wife, but helped his father in all works. As a result of his family’s poverty, he was forced to go to the brick fields at the age of 13 to earn money for his studies. Yet he was actively involved in students’ party politics and won the school election as a KSU candidate. At the age of 15, after his secondary school, he joined St. Mary’s Petit Seminary at Trissur in the year 1979. He was dismissed from the seminary after three years, but taken back after one year of his stay at home, and sent to St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Kottayam in 1983 to pursue his studies. About the first set back in the seminary he remarked later in a speech, “I was dismissed from the minor seminary when I was 18, which literally shattered all my dreams. It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t sleep properly that one year, I was on my knees. Later, I understood that that dismissal was the biggest watershed in my life to understand the meaning of life.” Though without any lesson in art and painting, he began to paint stage curtains and sell them to earn money for his studies in the seminary.
Debuts
Though Jose wrote a book in English about 25 world leaders, his mentor Rev Fr Thomas Parekkadan dissuaded him due to the past bitter experiences. But he couldn’t resist his passion for literature and at the age of 22, as a second year theology student, he began to work on his first published book in Malayalam, Vitakkapetta Vacanam (The Word that is Sown) and it was published in June 1988 almost two years before his priestly ordination. It created history among the Catholics not only with its vast reception and utility but also because of this big volume from a seminarian. Practically 80% of the Malayalee Catholic Priests and Nuns use this book till today to break the Word of God. A work of this sort was undeniably new in Kerala.
Prolific Religious Writer
The success and wide acceptance of his first book gave Jose a boost that he began to bring out prestigious and pioneering works. As a third year theologian, he was assisting Rev Fr Paul Marokky, his spiritual father and guide, to supply Christian articles to DC Books’ Akhila Vijnanakosam (Complete Encyclopedia). This gave him the first spark to get underway the first Catholic Bible Encyclopedia in Malayalam. He collected some of his classmates and presented the idea and they all agreed to go ahead the ingenious concept. This group of friends formed the editorial board of the proposed Bible Vijnanakosam (Bible Encyclopedia). But, can a seminarian, not much trained in theology, be the chief editor of an Encyclopedia? After the initial preparations regarding the size, form and content of the Bible Encyclopedia, he approached Fr George Mangatt, then his professor of the Sacred Scripture to be the Chief Editor of this title. Since Fr Mangatt didn’t show interest in this venture, he approached Rev Fr Mathew Vellanikkal, then the President of Paurastya Vidyapitham to accept the invitation to the Chief Editor’s post. He agreed on a condition that he would be a nominal chief editor. After many hic ups, the Bible Vijnanakosam (Bible Encyclopedia) became a reality, the first of its kind in Malayalam literature. Thus, he created another history as a seminarian.
In the farewell speech in the Major Seminary he remarked, “I was lucky – I found what I loved to do early in life. I began to write books on the sacred scriptures when I was 22, as a second year student of theology. And the first Catholic Bible Encyclopedia in Malayalam, prepared before my ordination, is my brain-child. I’m pretty sure that none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from the minor seminary”.
This was just the beginning of a series of big volumes from the quill of Jose. Now, there are more than sixty books to his credit both in English and Malayalam and some of his small titles are translated in German, Polish and Spanish. To put it in Fr Jose’s words, “And much of that stumbled into by following my intuition turned out to be priceless later on – over 80 books in a life span of 54, that too in many Indian and foreign languages and teaching and preaching experience in more than 12 nations.”
Most of his writings deal with the Bible and Christianity, especially the four gospels. But he cites from different branches of knowledge such as genetics, psychology, comparative religion and space science, atomic science, quantum physics, evolution etcetera. Jose was initially an admirer of the Biblicist from USA Raymond E. Brown, whose works he studied and made use of for his own literary career, but later Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) left lasting and profound impression on him.
Awards
Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference acknowledged his expertise and services to the church by extending to him Yuvapratibha Award (Award for Young Excellence) in 1998 for his four-volume commentary on the gospels, Vyakhyatavinte Bible (1995 edition, thoroughly revised third edition in 2014). He won Maryvijayam award for his book Vacana Vinjaniyam, an exegetical commentary on the Gospel of Mathew. Yet, Jose’s best-known work is Vitakkapetta Vacanam and it has never been out of print since it was published in 1988.
Founding a Publishing House
Immediately after his priestly ordination, Fr Jose instituted an academy and publishing house by name Biblia Academy (formerly known as Bible Commission) and its publication department commenced in 1991. His aim was the production and dissemination of literature, music and information on the Word of God. Vacanamrutam (Nectar of the Word) was its monthly magazine. Most of the works of Fr Jose are printed and published by Biblia Publications.
Biblia Academy has joined hands with Sophia Books, the publication department of Shalom TV, to make its books available through e-purchase. Some of the works of Biblia are available in e-book format, a venture in co-operation with Mera Library.
Art and Painting
As a seminarian, Jose Maniparambil was instrumental in setting up the Historical Museum at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary and the painting at the entrance of the Museum was his creation, though it is a contextual imitation.
Teacher of Sacred Scripture
A master of words on the Word of God, Jose Maniparambil is a well-known teacher expressing abstract and complicated thoughts with clarity and authority. Even before his Master’s Degree or Doctorate, he was known as Bible Pandit, the Wise Man of the Bible! His eloquence and expertise on the Bible was so extraordinary that in some quarters people called him Bible Father.
In 1998 he went to Bangalore St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute to pursue his post graduate studies and doctorate in Biblical Theology. During this time, he was also post-graduated in Malayalam Literature from Calicut University. During the doctoral studies, he began teaching in St. Peter’s Seminary and continues to teach in its spirituality department, Indian Institute of Spirituality. Immediately after his doctoral studies he was invited to teach in Tanzania, East Africa and he has been on a teaching assignment for two years at Salvatorian Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Morogoro in Tanzania. When his bishop Mar James Pazhayattil visited him at Salvatorian Institute of Philosophy and Theology Tanzania, the rector of the Institute told his bishop, “We have many professors here, but only one star and that is Fr Jose Maniparambil.”
Later, he was invited by Lichtenberg Kollege, Berlin, Germany to conduct Bible Science Course in their institute. He served as resident professor of the Bible at St. Ephrem’s Theological College, Satna, India from 2004-2006 and Tejas Vidyapeetha, MSFS Major Seminary for Contextual Theology, Bangalore, India from 2006-2013. In fact, he was instrumental, if not one of the founders, along with Rev Fr Mathew Kozhuppakkalam and Fr Shibu Thundathil to begin this new concept in theological formation. He continues there as a visiting faculty.
One of his students in the Seminary, Fr Santosh from Karnataka, was inspired to write his biography (though the venture was aborted), a rare gesture in the history of major seminaries. Another student Fr. Charles Kumar, who studied a semester in Pune Papal Seminary but returned to Tejas Vidyapeetha, Bangalore, remarked in his mail to Fr Jose, “No class here in Pune Papal Seminary is as good as yours. Father Jose, you have no peers.”
Preacher and Orator
With his fluent, forcible, elegant and persuasive speaking style, Fr Jose has the power of expressing strong emotions in a striking manner and language, thereby producing persuasion of the audience. Yet, this ability doesn’t jeopardize his graceful appearance. The combination of thought and reason, coupled with his strong faith, is his powerful tool to disseminate his worldview to the audience. He has a capacity to convince the audience whether literate and illiterate.
As a preacher of the Gospel of Christ he delivers sermons, conducts biblical retreats and conferences in many countries such as Germany, Poland, France, Austria and Italy. He focuses not only on the communication but also on the development of the faith and doctrine.
But when he preaches to audiences comprising Muslims, Hindus and Protestants he focuses mostly on human issues and problems but without compromising his religious views and faith. His capacity to adapt to the situations is incredible.
A landmark in his preaching mission was the production of 32 hours non-stop sermons in DVD Video format on a variety of 41 subjects. The name of the DVD, Maniparampilachante Prabhashanangal (Sermons of Fr Maniparambil), shows his impact, weight and authority in the field of the proclamation of the Word of God.
Columnist
Every issue of Journal of Indian Theology carries a regular column by Fr Jose Maniparampil besides other scholarly articles. He publishes articles in Jeevadhara, Kerala Sabha Monthly, Talent Magazine, Vachanotsavam, Deccan Herald, Matavum Chintayum, Ephrem’s Journal, Africa Tomorrow and so on.
His article on Judaism was included in the curriculum of IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University). Fr Jose also contributed two solid essays to ACP Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Shalom and Goodness TV Shows
Fr. Jose Maniparambil’s profound, logical and solid interpretation on the meaning of Easter, Good Friday, Maundy Thursday, Mary, Mother of God, the Bread of Life – Holy Eucharist, and many other topics appear in Shalom TV and Goodness TV.
There was an interview with Fr. Jose Maniparambil aired by Shalom TV and there was also a Question-Answer program.
Pioneer in Many Fields
Besides the founder of Biblia Academy, Fr Jose is a co-founder with Sr Pauline Pushpa of an association in Paris, Fratenite de la Parole (Fraternity of the Word), later renamed as AAEAI registered under French government. He also started a Vacation Bible Class at Pila in Poland with the help of Ms. Halina. And as noted above, he co-operated with two MSFS priests to found a new concept of priestly formation, namely Tejas Vidyapeetha, A Major Seminary for Mission-Oriented Contextual Theology.
Religious Views
Jose was born into a Syro-Malabar Catholic family but raised up in public schools and he was shaped by not only Catholic Thought but by a panoramic Protestant, Hindu and Islamic views. Yet, his passionate love for Jesus, whom he considers as the sole savior of the world remains the bottom-line of his life.
Polish Website : http://www.maniparambil.pl/index.html