The ongoing 35th General Body Meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) at St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences in Bengaluru, on November 10, elected Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, Metropolitan head of Thrissur, as the new president of the CBCI.
Archbishop George Antonysamy, Metropolitan Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore (Latin) was elected first vice-president of the CBCI.
Bishop Mar Joseph Thomas, Bishop of the Eparchy of Batheri (Malankara) was elected as the second vice-president of CBCI.
Archbishop Felix Machado, Bishop of Vasai was re-elected as the Secretary General of the CBCI.
CBCI, the national body of Indian Catholic bishops consists of the bishops of Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara, three ritual Catholic Churches. The top offices are shared among the Churches on rotation.
Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath is the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Archeparchy of Thrissur since 2007.
Archbishop Thazhath was born in 1951 and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Trissur on March 14, 1977. He holds Bachelor’s Degree in Theology and Doctor’s Degree in Eastern Canon Law (DOCL) from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome.
He was ordained as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Trissur on May 1, 2004, and was appointed as the Archbishop of Trissur on January 22, 2007.
An expert in Canon Law, Archbishop Thazhath was appointed by Pope Francis as one of the members of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts in 2021.
Previously, he has served as the President of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Ordinary Tribunal of Ernakulam-Angamaly, the Syncellus of the Archeparchy, the Working Chairman and Managing Director of Jeevan Telecasting Corporation and the President of the Oriental Canon Law Society of India.
Archbishop George Antonysamy was born on February 15, 1952. He was elected as titular archbishop of Sulci in Sardinia, Italy, by Pope Benedict XVI and was consecrated bishop on September 21, 2005.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the new Archbishop of Madras and Mylapore (Chennai), while he was serving as the Apostolic Nuncio to West African Countries.
Bishop Joseph Thomas was born on May 13, 1952, and ordained a priest on December 23, 1978. He was appointed as the third bishop of the eparchy of Bathery in Kerala and was consecrated Bishop on April 13, 2010.
Archbishop Felix Machado was born on June 6, 1948, and was ordained a priest on October 30, 1976, in the Archdiocese of Bombay.
In 1998, he was incardinated in the diocese of Vasai. He was consecrated Bishop of Nashik on March 8, 2008, and later transferred to the diocese of Vasai on November 10, 2009. Pope Benedict XVI granted him the personal title of Archbishop.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
Latest News
