Bethany Ashram

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BETHANY ASHRAM GENERALATE

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FAMILY GATHERING
JULY 14, 2023
NEW PRIESTS 2025

FOUNDER

The late Archbishop, His Grace Mar Ivanios OIC, the founder of Bethany Ashram was born on 21st Sept. 1882 at Mavelikara. Born in the famous 'Mallitta' Panikkar family, belonging to the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church, he assumed the baptismal name Geevarghese.

BETHANY ASHRAM AND ITS FOUNDING

The name of this congregation is The Order of the Imitation of Christ. Ordinarily, it is called Bethany. Prompted by divine inspiration to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout India, through the spiritual renewal of the Malankara Church,..

CHARISM OF BETHANY

The charism of the Order of the imitation of Christ is following Jesus Christ in his life of prayer and action, realized in oriental monastic tradition and Indian sanyasa and aimed at the evangelization of India through the spiritual renewal of the Malankara Church.

About Us

We are Bethanians, the members of Bethany Ashram. Bethany Ashram, formally called the Order of the Imitation of Christ (OIC), is the first indigenous religious congregation started in the Malankara Church. Founded by the late Archbishop Servant of God Geevarghese Mar Ivanios on 15th August 1919 at Perunadu in Kerala, Bethany blends beautifully the spirit of both Oriental monastic tradition and Indian sanyasa.

As the very name indicates, Bethany Ashram has been a house of consolation for all those who entered its threshold.
Bethany was instrumental in the spiritual revival of the Malankara church at a time when it was infested by tumultuous litigations and the in-fight for dominance inside the church. Later it became the cradle of the Reunion Movement™ when Mar Ivanios and others embraced the unity of the true Catholic communion thus giving rise to the Malankara Catholic Church on 20th September 1930.