Kottayam: Joseph Pulikkunnel, 85, best known for his independent and scholarly views on Church practices, died at his residence in Bharananganam in the early hours of Thursday. The cremation will be held on the premises of his house at 11 am on Friday.
Born on April 14, 1932, to the Idamattom Pulikkunnel family, he aired his intellectual arguments standing firmly within the religious framework and was one of the Church's most consistent critics in Kerala.
After completing his Economics (honors) degree from the Presidency College, Madras, he taught at the St. Joseph's College, Devagiri, Kozhikode between 1958 and 1967. However, he was expelled from the college after inviting the wrath of the management with his fearless and radical approach.
The main thrust of Hosanna, a monthly magazine in Malayalam which was launched by him in 1975, was the reformation of the churches with Bible as the norm of faith. The magazine was unveiled by Prof Joseph Mundassery at meeting held a rented room in Pala. It was writer Ponkunnam Varkey who presided over the ceremony.
He was always at the forefront to resolve issues related to weddings and cremations that got entangled in Church laws.
Challenging the Church, he set up a funeral pyre on the premises of his ancestral house at Idamattom to cremate his wife Kochurani when she died in 2008. In his will, he had expressed his wish to be buried alongside his wife on the same plot. He had also notified in the will the details of the last rites he wished to have and distributed the copies of the same to his relatives and friends.
Joseph Pulikkunnel pursued his interests in social work and founded several social service organizations including the Good Samaritan Project India, the Word and Deed Hospital and the Palliative Cancer Care Center at Osanakkunnu, near Pala, and the Juvenile Diabetic Home.
He has also made remarkable contributions to promote creative thinking and lively scholarly interchange in the interpretation of all aspects of Christianity through the Christian Literature Society, and the Indian Institute of Christian Studies.
At the age of 75, he relieved himself from the editor post of Hosanna and bequeathed all his assets and revenues to the Pulikkunnel Foundation and the institutions at Osanakkunnu.
However, the magazine went out of publication earlier this year.
Pulikunnel was a member of the Congress Kottayam district executive committee in 1960. In 1964, when the Kerala Congress was formed, he joined hands with R Balakrishna Pillai and coordinated the party’s first meeting. He contested the 1965 assembly elections from the Kalpetta seat, but was defeated.
His children are Rasheema, Reenima, Ragima (late), Raju and Rathima. George Vazheparambil (Changanassery), Madathil Parambil Ashok M Cheriyan (Ernakulam), Adv K C Joseph Kizhakkel (Pala) Shiji Valethu (Kolancherry), and Ravi DC (Kottayam) are his son in-laws.
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