When an Indian Volcano Met an Ethiopian Emperor
On 24 November—when the ashes of the Ethiopian volcanic eruption drifted across Delhi—the city marked another moment of profound symbolism: the 29th death anniversary of a monk whose life, too, resembled a powerful eruption. Beginning his journey in Ethiopia and concluding it in Delhi, Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios—born Paul Varghese—left behind fertile soil wherever he walked: ideas, institutions, and generations transformed by his brilliance.
A global intellectual with a deep Indian soul, he believed that the knowledge he gained from the world’s finest universities was not meant to embellish his career but to uplift humanity.
A Scholar Who Captivated an Emperor
So striking was his intellect and integrity that Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie once flew to India to persuade him to return to Ethiopia. The Emperor, impressed to the point of affection, was even willing to accept him as his grandson-in-law. A prince, son of the Emperor, once remarked to him: “The Emperor likes you. He needs trustworthy people around him.”
Born in 1922 in Thripunithra, Kerala, Paul Varghese ranked sixth in the SSLC examinations and won the gold medal in mathematics. Even as a student, he devoured books, especially accounts of heroes who resisted autocrats. Haile Selassie’s resistance against Mussolini was one such story, leaving a deep imprint on his young mind.
Destiny later brought the two together: Paul Varghese became the Emperor’s personal assistant, confidant, and the man to whom Selassie opened his heart.
A Teacher, A Voice, A Visionary in Ethiopia
Dr. Robert N. Thompson, a Canadian Orthopedic working in Ethiopia, recognized Paul’s extraordinary command of English and depth of knowledge. They first met by chance in a car ride from Cochin to Alwaye, where Thompson immediately saw the young man’s potential. He invited the 25-year-old to Ethiopia on a three-year teaching contract.
In his first year there, Paul taught at a school for orphaned boys—children displaced by the Italian invasion of 1935–41. When a false accusation arose that he was violating his contract by teaching scripture, he defended himself in a series of powerful letters written in English. During their meeting in his office, the Director of Education was astonished by Paul’s mastery of Amharic, the language in which he presented his case with remarkable fluency.
Views on Education
“The real purpose of education,” he wrote, “is character formation on one side and learning how to address various issues in life on the other. One should earn the strength to overcome the critical situations that arise in life.”
His three years in Ethiopia earned him both admiration and envy. What impressed the people most was his Amharic fluency, his oratory, and his ability to organize anything—from Shakespearean dramas to spiritual retreats. At a sports event at the Emperor’s School, he delivered announcements in both English and Amharic—an unprecedented display of scholarship and cultural assimilation. Some envied him for the direct access he had to the Emperor.
In my thinking, the educational and cultural scenario all over the world lacks creativity. Their art forms are weak in content or message. We are losing our way and go on aimlessly in educational and cultural areas. I am not saying that there are no creative and entertaining writings in art and literature. My point is that education and culture are not able to spread light in the pitch darkness that has swallowed humankind.” “I see three inter-related factors that make areas of education and culture inactive or deaf and dumb.
The Scholar Who Conquered Minds in America
When his Ethiopian contract ended, he left for the United States on a scholarship. At Goshen College, he studied Philosophy, Languages, and Biblical Languages, completing a four-year degree in two years. At Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned his M.Div. in two years. Thus completing in four years what typically required seven.
Students and professors watched him in awe. “All we could do in his presence,” recalled his classmate Alma Kaufman, “was to close our mouths and simply listen.”
After his studies, he returned to Kerala and worked at a fellowship centre in Aluva, helping nurture youth across denominations. He was instrumental in strengthening the Orthodox Christian Students Movement—work that continues to resonate today.
I see three inter-related factors that make areas of education and culture inactive or deaf and dumb. These three factors combine resulting in a simultaneous alienation of individual and society. This alienation has spread all over the universe. It is unusual that such alienation is universally dominant in human history. The reason is that indigenous culture used to be self-sufficient largely and has been strong enough as much as possible that no external culture overpowered it.”
The Emperor Returns
Two years later, Emperor Haile Selassie visited the Orthodox Church headquarters in Develokam, Kottayam. He appealed to the Catholicos to send Paul Varghese back to Ethiopia. The Catholicos famously said, “Everybody wants Paul Varghese. I need him in our Church; the Emperor wants him in his country. But there is only one Paul Varghese.”
Understanding that his calling was once again in Ethiopia, Paul returned in obedience.
Builder of Institutions, Bridge Between Civilizations
Beginning in 1956, he was entrusted by the Emperor with three major responsibilities:
- Setting up the Military Academy at Harar under Indian Armed Forces guidance
- Establishing a textile mill in collaboration with the Birla Group
- Assisting with the India–Ethiopia Trade Agreement
Alongside these secular duties, he taught the Bible, mentored youth, and built spiritual communities. He strove to be a bridge between the intellectual West and the mystical East.
In his first meeting with the Catholicos, he answered 200 Bible questions. Impressed, the Catholicos declared: “He went to the West and studied the Bible, but he has true Orthodox faith in him.” Though educated in Western institutions, he remained deeply rooted in Eastern Orthodoxy.
A Beloved of Africa
Africa admired him deeply—halls overflowed wherever he spoke. During a Bible conference in Ghana, delegates composed a song for him on his 39th birthday. A few lines from the song is as follows:
He saw the glory of Miss Flory and worked into her scheme.
She took him off to Africa to freeze in Aburi.
And now he’s here before us, and gee girls, ain’t he a dream!
Agape marches on!
Chorus: Happy Birthday from us to ya,
Happy Birthday from us to ya,
Happy Birthday from us to ya,
Your age goes marching on!
The Bishop Who Built Delhi’s Institutions
From 1975 until his passing in 1996, Dr Paulos Mar Gregorios led the Delhi Diocese for 21 years. Under his leadership, churches, schools, and institutions for the poor sprang up across the region.
Today, the different segments of the universe have combined to become a single market of consumption and a global culture to match this consumerism has come up. The situation prevailing now is such that an individual with his own creativity or a culture that is indigenous cannot keep its head high in this typhoon of global consumerist culture.
A Mind Ahead of Its Time
Paul Varghese possessed a burning desire to study, to teach, and to uplift the marginalized. His writings—on education, globalization, humanity, climate change, and migration—remain strikingly relevant today. Later, when he was ordained Bishop and became the first Metropolitan of the Delhi Diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church, he used every opportunity to build schools and institutions, not just for the Church but for the poorest of the poor.
His foresight was remarkable: while at a fellowship in Alwaye, he planted rubber trees so local families could one day benefit from their yield.
In Delhi, leaving behind the sophistication of Princeton, Oxford, the Ivy League, and the World Council of Churches, he walked through slums and labour settlements searching for those in need. He found children orphaned by poverty and decided they should be cared for without being uprooted from their cultural identity. He insisted they remain among their own people, nurtured by a mother figure he arranged for them.
From that two or three years of working in Higher Education I came to one conclusion. Adequate reform in the Indian education system, I was convinced and still am, cannot take place except as an integral part of an all round movement for social transformation in India. It is futile to inculcate higher values in schools and colleges so long as students lived in a society with much lower values and interests.
The Legacy That Shaped Generations
My own father was fortunate to be a seminarian under Fr. Paul Varghese as Principal of the Orthodox Seminary. Among his classmates were towering figures like Fr. K.M. George, H.G. Geevarghese Mar Coorilos (Metropolitan of Mumbai), and Fr. O. Thomas. My father was initially mentored by Fr. M.V. George—later H.G. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios—a missionary, who embodied action, compassion, and service to the needy.
If Mar Osthathios was a bishop of action, Mar Gregorios was a bishop of words—words that shaped minds, ministries, and movements. My father believed that action was more productive than words. H.G. Mar Osthathios uplifted thousands through his mission work, from Kalahandi in Odisha—once among the world’s poorest regions—to Attappady in Kerala. His mission efforts continue there to this day.
H.G. Paulos Mar Gregorios influenced many through his writings, even today. K.M. Mathew, later Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama, once wrote to Paul Varghese: “The only hope for our Church is to guide our young men, and if we have a set of leaders like you who could do the work, it will be a great service done to our God-forsaken Church.” Through his students, his influence touched generations that his students shepherded, including thousands in the Indian Orthodox Church, now described by national media as the “Powerful Indian Orthodox Church.”
Schools and colleges cannot change society’s value system, until society was willing to change itself and was engaged in a nationwide popular movement (like the national freedom movement in the 30’s and 40’s) to achieve better organisation of our political – economic structures. Formal education is not the place to start social reform or value – change.
The Volcano’s Gift to the World
Like a volcano that enriches the soil after its fiery eruption, Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios enriched every community he touched—with knowledge, compassion, and visionary institutions.
His memory is honoured through the biennial Dr. Paulos Mar Gregorios Award instituted by the Sophia Society. The eighth award will be conferred on Dr. Tessy Thomas. Previous recipients include global icons such as the Dalai Lama and Sonam Wangchuk.
His life reminds us that scholarship, service, and humility are not separate paths—they are one. And when they converge in a single human being, the world is transformed. He served the emperor as well as the destitute thus living his life to the utmost fulfilment.
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