Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel

 Vilakkuvelil Cherian Samuel was born on 6 April 1912 as the son of E .I. Cherian and Annamma of Edayil family, Omalloor, India.  After his School Final Examination he studied Syriac Language, Theological and Ecclesiastical Subjects at St. Ignatius Seminary, Manjinikkara, India. He taught there for 10 years since 1934.

In 1948, he completed his Intermediate and Degree in Philosophy and Psychology from Union Christian College, Aluva, India. He took his M.A. in Philosophy from Madras University, India (1950), and B. D. from United Theological College, Bangalore, India (1953) and, S.T.M. from Union Theological Seminary, New York, USA (1954). He did his doctoral research during 1954 – 57 at Yale University, USA and Post Doctoral Research at Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society, Bangalore, India,

On 3 March 1935, he was Ordained as Koruyo and on 14 March 1936 as Sub-deacon.  He was ordained as Deacon on 12 September 1937 and as priest on 9 January 1938. He served as the vicar of several parishes. He had a working knowledge on fifteen languages. His major fields were Philosophy, Comparative Religion, Theology and History. He was a professor at Srerampur University, India (1960-63) and Haile Selassie I University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (1963-66).

With the blessings of His Holiness Augen I, from 1968 onwards he worked in a wide spectra of areas in representing the Church.

He attended four General Assemblies of the World Council of Churches from 1954 to 1978 and eight assemblies of the Faith and Order Commission from 1961 to 1982. He was the member of international eight working groups related to Theology. He authored/co-authored 41 papers and has five dissertations in English alone in his credit.

Fr. Dr. V. C. Samuel was married to Dr. Kunjannamma Samuel, Cherussery, Puthuppally. He entered into eternal abode on 18 November 1998.