Paurastya Vidyāpīṭham
It is primarily intended for the education and formation of the seminarians of the Syro-Malabar dioceses. It is also open to the students of Syro-Malankara and Latin dioceses and of religious congregations. The Seminary is subject to the authority and control of the Syro-Malabar Bishops' Synod, which exercises its authority through a specially elected Synodal Commission of Bishops.
- Formally established on April 26, l962
- Formally inaugurated on July 3, l962
Paurastya Vidyāpīṭham is the local name given to the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, an autonomous Faculty of Theology erected by the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on 3 July 1982. It is subject to the authority of the Synod of Bishops of the Syro–Malabar Church, which exercises its authority through a Synodal Commission. On 21 February 1973 the Department of Theology at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary was affiliated to the Faculty of Oriental Ecclesiastical Sciences at the Pontifical Oriental Institute Rome. Considering the steady growth of the Department the Congregation for Catholic Education erected its as an independent Theological Faculty with right to confer the degrees of B. Th. (Bachelor of Theology), M. Th. (Master of Theology) and D. Th. (Doctor of Theology) on July 3, 1982. On August 15, 1985 the Department of Philosophy was given the power to confer the degree of B. Ph. (B.A. in Philosophy). On 12 December 2016 the Institute of Eastern Canon Law, aggregated to the Faculty of Oriental Canon Law at Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome was erected at PVP by the same Congregation.
