Pope Francis has given his assent to the appointment, by the Synod of Bishops of the major archiepiscopal Syro-Malabar church, gathered in Mount Saint Thomas, Kerala, India, of Fr. Jose Pulickal as auxiliary bishop of the eparchy of Kanjirapally of the Syro-Malabars, India.
Jose Pulickal was born in Inchiyani, India, in 1964 and was ordained a priest in 1991. He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the Dharmaram Institute of Bangalore, and has served in a number of pastoral roles, including vicar of the cathedral of Kanjirapally, director of catechesis, eparchial vicar and consultor. He is currently protosyncellus with responsibilty for the clergy.
The eparchy has some 226,000 faithful in a population of 1.3 million. They are served by about 345 priesta and more than 2,000 religious.
