Rev. Fr. Gabriel Possenti Thannickakuzhy O.I.C. Enters Eternal Rest After a Life of Silent Witness and Steadfast Service

Nalanchira, Thiruvananthapuram – 16 April 2025

There are lives that thunder through history—and there are others that whisper, yet leave behind foundations upon which communities rise. Rev. Fr. Gabriel Possenti Thannickakuzhy O.I.C., a beloved priest of the Bethany Navajeevan Province of the Order of the Imitation of Christ (O.I.C.), passed away peacefully on the morning of 16 April 2025, aged 80. For forty long years, he bore the Cross of physical suffering with Christlike serenity following a life-altering accident in 1985. In this silence, his priesthood only grew deeper, his impact more enduring.

Born in 1945 in Kannur, he entered the Bethany Ashram in 1962, and made his first profession on 22 June 1964 at Nalanchira. He later pursued academic excellence in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum in Pune. On 21 September 1971, he was ordained to the sacred priesthood by His Grace Benedict Mor Gregorios.

He was not merely a theologian; he was a catechist in the true sense of the term—a writer, dramatist, and shepherd. His early ministry found him as Superior of the Bethany Ashram in Tiruvalla from 1980 to 1982 and as vicar of parishes such as Peringara, Vengal, Kallissery, and Cheengeri. He also earned a degree in media and dramaturgy during his time in Mumbai.

It was in Mumbai, during the 1970s, that Fr. Gabriel’s missionary heart left a mark still visible today. His arrival in 1974, during his higher studies, coincided with the deep yearning of a small Malankara Catholic diaspora in Borivili, who longed for liturgical and pastoral life in their native West Syriac Rite. Fr. Gabriel, staying with the St. Francis Brothers, offered not only his priestly presence but also a renewed sense of identity to a fledgling community. His pastoral visits, spiritual counsel, and celebration of the Holy Qurbono became the seeds from which the St. Thomas Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Borivili would later bloom—a parish now firmly rooted within the Eparchy of St. Ephrem Khadki–Pune.

This quiet pioneer helped nourish what would become a vibrant ecclesiastical presence in Maharashtra. His time in Mumbai laid the foundations for the future formation of parishes and the eventual canonical erection of a diocese that would serve hundreds of faithful across the western region of India. Today, the Malankara Catholic Church in Mumbai and Pune honours him not merely as a visitor from Kerala, but as one of its own founders in spirit and mission.

In 1985, while serving at Meenangadi Ashram, a tragic accident left him physically incapacitated. Yet, the accident did not arrest his mission; it merely transformed its expression. From his bed, he continued to inspire through prayer, reflection, and a love that bore pain as a daily offering. In the crucible of suffering, he remained a Bethany priest through and through—rooted in imitation of Christ.

Since 2020, he had been residing at the Bethany Ashram Dayara in Nalanchira, where his presence remained a quiet witness to faith refined by fire.

His funeral rites will be held on Monday, 21 April 2025, at the Bethany Ashram, Nalanchira, Trivandrum. The mortal remains will arrive at the Ashram at 7:45 a.m., followed by services and Holy Qurbono at 10:45 a.m. The final interment will take place at the Bethany Ashram Cemetery in the presence of hierarchs and clergy of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and the Bethany community.

In a world that often overlooks hidden sanctity, the life of Fr. Gabriel Possenti Thannickakuzhy O.I.C. stands as a quiet lamp set upon a hill—a priest, a pioneer, a scribe, a sufferer, a servant. His story—told in both words and in suffering—now finds its fulfilment in the presence of the Eternal High Priest, to whom he offered his life without complaint, without spectacle, and without reserve.

Let us remember him with gratitude, and may his soul rest in the eternal embrace of Christ, whose yoke he bore with fidelity and grace.