Our Founder

Born on 31 August 1936 at Kaduthuruthy in Kerala in an ordinary family, Rev.Fr.Thomas Felix was ordained a priest of Christ in the CMI congregation on 16 May 1964. The early years of his priestly life were spent at Changanacherry helping the poor people of the locality, helping them to meet their immediate needs under the patronage of Archbishop Mathew Kavukatt and the company of several priests of CMI congregation and Changanacherry archdiocese. The hard lives and miserable conditions of a few mentally challenged persons and their parents, whom he came across along with the childhood experience of a mentally challenged boy in his hometown, drastically changed his vision of life and he decided to work for them.

These experiences, filled with the conviction of an inner call to dedicate his life totally for the cause of these neglected ones, moulded his life and mission. There starts the history of his journey to the unfathomable depths of lives of the mentally challenged going ups and downs. That journey still continues.

Rev.Fr.Thomas Felix is the President of All Kerala Association for Mentally Challenged and also the Director of Central Institute on Mental Retardation working for more than 50 years for educating and rehabilitating the mentally challenged children. He is also a philanthropist and an internationally acclaimed special educator. Rev.Fr.Thomas Felix is the pioneer in the field of special education in Kerala. He did several paper presentations all over the world and also conducted several workshops for both parents and children for rehabilitating the mentally challenged children.

He completed his graduate and post graduate studies in Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A on social sciences with special reference to the plight of the mentally challenged. He had also completed a short-term management course from Birmingham University.

The 3Cs concept developed by Rev.Fr.Thomas Felix has been recognized and implemented by Benedictine University as a part of its curriculum. He had conducted short term training program course at Oklahoma Benedictine Institute on Mental Retardation, U.S.A. He is also the author of many books. His mission and vision paved the way to thousands of people to help and support the differently able children.