The Synod of Bishops of the Syro Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Church has elected as Bishop of the Eparchy of St. Ephrem of Khadki of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Fr. Mathai Kadavil (60), O.I.C., to which Pope Francis has granted his assent on December 12, 2023.
Fr. Kadavil, who is currently Superior General of the Institute of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, was born on December 21, 1963, in Kannathunadu, Kerala.
Having entered the Order of the Imitation of Christ Institute of the Syro-Malankara Church, he took his first vows on May 15, 1981. He studied philosophy and theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune before receiving priestly ordination on October 9, 1989.
As a priest, he held the office of vice-rector of postulants for a year. From 1990 to 1995, he exercised the ministry in the Archeparchy of Tiruvalla of the Syro-Malankara people as parish priest as well as diocesan director of youth pastoral care at Malankara Catholic Youth Ministry.
At the same time, he was responsible for the Bethany Publications publishing house of his Religious Institute and the management of the Bethany Book Center. From 1993 to 1995, he coordinated the Malankara Catholic Youth Ministry.
He then continued his studies at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), where he obtained a doctorate in theology in 2002.
Upon returning to his homeland, he worked again in the pre-novitiate for a year. From 2003 to 2006, he was Provincial Councillor, with particular attention to the Bombay-Pune Missions. From 2006 to 2009, he was parish priest of two parishes before becoming Provincial Superior from 2009 to 2015.
From 2011 to 2017, he was Secretary of the Theological Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC). He has been Secretary of the Synodal Commission for Theology of the Syro Malankara Catholic Church since 2018.
From 2017 to 2020, he held the positions of professor and resident formator at Malankara Major Seminary, Trivandrum. In 2021, the Order of the Imitation of Christ elected him as their Superior General.
He is the author of four books and around 130 articles in English and Malayalam; he also knows Sanskrit, Syriac, German, and French.
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