Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios 

His Excellency Benedict Mar Gregorios the second metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
He was baptised by the name Varghese. As a teenage boy Varghese came closer to the ideal of Bethany Ashram. He was attracted by the personality of Mar Ivanios and later became a member of Bethany Ashram and adopted the name Benedict. He studied Philosophy and Theology at Papel Seminary, Kandy, Sri Lanka. He was ordained a religious priest of Bethany Ashram by then Bishop of Kandy H.E Bernad Reinjo O.C.B in 1944. As a dynamic young priest he taught Syriac for some time in St. Aloysius Seminary in Trivandrum. He was sent for higher studies in Economics to St. Joseph's College, Trichy (1946-1949). He became the first principal of Mar Ivanios College. Rev. Fr. Benedict Thangalathil OIC of the Congregation of the Order of the Imitation of Christ was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Trivandrum by His Holiness Pope Pius XII. His Grace Archbishop Mar Ivanios consecrated him on 29th January 1953 in the name Benedict Mar Gregorios.