Draft:Thomas Mar Athanasius (Malankara bishop)

Thomas Mar Athanasius was born to Rev. Fr. Yohannan Puttanil and Mrs Mariam on 28 June 1952 in Puttanil family at Arikuzha, Thodupuzha, Idukki Dist. He was ordained a deacon on December 21, 1989, and a priest on February 23, 1990. On May 3, 1990, he was consecrated a bishop. 1990 - 1998 he held the office of Metropolitan of Kandanadu in the Syrian Orthodox Church, since 2002 bishop of the Kandanadu East Diocese of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.

Early life
Thomas Mar Athanasius (P.J. Thomas) was born on June 28, 1952 as the son of Yohannan Kassisha and Mrs. Mariamma in Putanil family in Arikuzha, a nearby area of ​​Thodupuzha, later Thomas Ramban and Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius became the Metropolitan. In 1971, he received the title of Coruyo from the Paulose Mar Philoxinose Metropolitan.

He holds a Masters in English Literature from St. John's College, Agra and a Bachelor of Theology degree from UT College, Bangalore. He studied at the Roman Catholic Faculty of the University of Regensburg in Germany during 1984-89 and received his doctorate from the Ludwig Max Millen University in Munich on the methodological comparative study of the visions of Saint Irenaeus and Sri Shankaracharya. After serving as Vice-Principal at Vettikal Udayagiri Seminary, in February 1990, he was elected to the post of Metropolitan of Kandanadu.

Metropolitan
In February 1990, the Kandanadu church representative meeting of the party that broke away from the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church under the name of Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church from 1975 to 2002 under the leadership of Baselios Paulose II, elected him to the position of Metropolitan of Kandanadu.