the ashram also being a shelter for the poor and the marginalized. Along with the Ashram, he started a house for the orphans. While at Serampore Geevarghese was thinking of the empowerment of the Syrian Christian women through education. To realize this idea, he took initiative to give education and training to the selected group of young girls with the help of the Epiphany Sisters of England working at Serampore. He founded the Bethany Madom (literally Bethany Great House or convent) for the women religious in 1925. Bishop of Bethany It was decided by the Malankara Synod to ordain Geevarghese as the Bishop of Bethany. He was ordained a bishop of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church by Baselios Geevarghese I on 1 May 1925. He received the name Geevarghese Ivanios. Ecclesial communion On 20 September 1930, Theophilos, John Kuzhinapurath, Alexander Attupurath, and Chacko Kiliyileth made the Catholic profession of faith before Aloysius Maria Benziger, the then Bishop of Kollam. Many of the members of the Bethany orders also came into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This spawned the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Establishment of the Syro-Malankara Catholic hierarchy In 1932 Geevarghese made a pilgrimage to Rome for the reunion as per the letters from Rome and met Pope Pius XI. Geevarghese received the pallium. He also participated in the thirty-second Eucharistic Congress held at Dublin, Ireland. There he met G.K. Chesterton, who said to Geevarghese "The dignified Indian gentleman, who represented this far off triumph in the Orient, had changed his neighbours by bringing them to the Roman Communion." On his return from Rome, Geevarghese made efforts to build up the Unite Rite establishment of the Malankara Christian Community. Pope Pius XI established the Malankara Catholic hierarchy, Syro-Malankara Catholic on 11 June 1932 through the apostolic constitution Cristo pastorum principi. Ecumenical endeavours and cultural development of the society Geevarghese sent missionaries to different parts of the land. Besides the newly joined bishops and priests from different Malankara denominations, he received missionaries from the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Joseph Kuzhinjalil, the founder of the congregation of the Daughters of Mary, was a missionary appointed by Geevarghese to work in the southern parts of the land. Under Geevarghese's leadership about 75 priests were joined from different denominations of the Malankara Church. About 150 parishes including mission stations were established. A lot of hindus (especially from Nadar (caste) community) also joined the Syro