Our Priest

Rev. Fr. John Pappan was born as the eldest of two sons to Very Rev. Yesudasan Pappan Cor-Episcopos and Mrs. Darli Pappan in India — the land in which St. Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ came and established Christianity in AD 52.

Fr. John was baptized by the late H.G. Daniel Mar Philoxenos, one of the first Indian Orthodox bishops in the apostolic lineage of St. Thomas, who came to the United States in 1953. His baptism took place at St. Bursouma’s Orthodox Syrian Church in India.

Fr. John completed most of his elementary and higher education in New York. He holds a B.A. in Biology with a minor in Business from Long Island University (LIU). In 2006, he earned his M.A. with honors in Pastoral Studies, focusing on Pastoral Care and Counseling, from Fordham University. He also obtained an M.S. in Drug Regulatory Affairs from LIU and later completed another M.S. in Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Administration.

By the grace of God, at the age of 10, the late H.G. Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios ordained Fr. John as an acolyte on May 7, 1995, at St. Basilios Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Brooklyn, NY.

H.G. Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios, along with Fr. John’s grandfather, Hon. Capt. K Pappan, served as Fr. John’s spiritual fathers. Metropolitan Makarios was a visionary, a great orator, and teacher. Mar Makarios had expressed a desire to ordain Fr. John as a deacon when he was 15 years old. However, Fr. John’s father insisted that it was important for him to continue his education and grow in Christian maturity before becoming an ordained deacon.

At the age of 16, Fr. John began his undergraduate university studies. By the age of 22, he had completed his bachelor's degree and two master's degrees, all while teaching at the university level.

With guidance from the then Dean of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Fr. Michael Dahulich, Ph.D. (currently H.E. Archbishop Michael), who, during his visit as a guest speaker at St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Church in Queens, NY, advised Fr. John to pursue his seminary studies in India within the priestly formation program of his mother church, rather than at St. Tikhon’s. Despite Fr. John’s expressed interest in joining St. Tikhon’s Seminary, Fr. Dahulich emphasized that, given Fr. John was nearing the completion of his Master’s degree from Fordham University in Pastoral Studies and Counseling, it would be more appropriate for him to join the priestly formation studies of his mother church. Fr. Dahulich further noted that several seminary graduates from both St. Tikhon’s and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, including its dean at the time, had obtained their advanced degrees from Fordham University.

Following Fr. Dahulich’s advice, nearly a year after completing his Master’s degree in Pastoral Studies from Fordham University, Mar Makarios decided to ordain Fr. John to the office of Sub-Deacon on November 3, 2007, at St. Gregorios Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Queens, NY.

Mar Makarios had hoped to ordain several young men from various churches as deacons, as they were highly regarded and loved by him. More importantly, they were worthy of the calling in which they were called by a faithful shepherd of the Church. The life and legacy of Mar Makarios continue to be a beacon of light and inspiration to the young men and women whose lives were touched by him.

Upon the repose of Mar Makarios, and with the blessings of the late His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Didymus I, Fr. John went to Kerala, India, and resided at Parumala Seminary to study the sacraments and rubrics of the Orthodox Church. Later, His Holiness sent Fr. John to Thrikkunnathu Seminary (2008-2009), where he completed the Priestly Formation Training Course among 22 other seminarians.

With the Apostolic blessings of the late His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Didymus I, His Beatitude Paulos Mar Milithios (later His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Paulose II Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan) ordained Fr. John as a Full Deacon on August 27, 2010, and as a Priest on August 28, 2010, in the Catholicate Aramana Chapel in Devalokam, Kottayam—the headquarters of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India.

Fr. John currently serves as the priest of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Middletown, NJ, an independent church that is open to all people seeking to discover the Orthodox Faith.

Fr. John’s hope is to fulfill his calling by sharing the vision of his spiritual father, Mar Makarios, who once taught: “Sometimes you have to give up everything to gain everything… in order to recapture our lost glory.”