Kuriakose Elias Chavara.
A priest of the nineteenth century who co-founded Kerala's first indigenous religious congregations, set up a Sanskrit school, brought in a printing press, and issued a circular telling every parish to open a school beside its church — which is a large part of why Kerala reads. Canonised by Francis in 2014.
Chavara was born in 1805 at Kainakary and ordained in 1829. He co-founded the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, the first indigenous male religious congregation in India, and the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel for women, and established a printing press at Mannanam. His 1864 circular instructing every parish to run a school predates the Kerala government's own efforts by decades and is regularly credited in Indian educational history. He was beatified in 1986 and canonised on 23 November 2014. Kerala's literacy rate, the highest in India, is not solely a Christian achievement, but the parish school network is part of the story.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.