Resignation of metropolitan archbishop of Lomé, Togo, and appointment of new metropolitan archbishop
The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Lomé, Togo, presented by Archbishop Denis Komivi Amuzu-Dzakpah.
The Pope has appointed Bishop Anani Nicodème Barrigah-Bénissan of Atakpamé as archbishop of the same metropolitan see.
Appointment of metropolitan archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro, Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Ernest Ngboko Ngombe, C.I.C.M., of Lisala, as metropolitan archbishop of Mbandaka-Bikoro, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Elevation of the apostolic exarchate of Saint Ephrem of Khadki of the Syro-Malankars, India, to an eparchy, and appointment of the first eparchial bishop
The Holy Father has elevated the apostolic exarchate of Saint Ephrem of Khadki of the Syro-Malankars, India, to an eparchy, and has appointed Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios (Valiyavilayil), O.I.C., currently apostolic exarch, as first eparchial bishop, transferring him from the titular see of Igilgili.
Bishop Thomas Mar Anthonios (Valiyavilayil), O.I.C., was born on 21 November 1955 in Adoor, in the archieparchy of Trivandrum. He is a religious belonging to the Order of the Imitation of Christ, where he made his first profession on 15 June 1974, and his perpetual profession on 9 December 1980. He was ordained a priest on 27 December 1980. He was subsequently awarded a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. As well as English and Malayalam, he speaks Italian, German, Hindi, and Syriac, and reads Greek and Latin.
Since ordination he has held the following offices: superior of various convents; director of the boarding school at Kottayam; master of postulants; treasurer; chaplain and parish priest; professor at Saint Mary’s Malankara Major Seminary of Trivandrum and in other major seminaries; counsellor general of his Institute and postulator of the cause for beatification of the Servant of God Mar Ivanios; chancellor of the major archiepiscopal Curia of the Syro-Malankara Church.
He was elected as bishop of the Curia on 25 January 2010, and was assigned the titular see of Igilgili. On 25 March 2015, His Holiness Pope Francis appointed him as first apostolic exarch of Saint Ephrem of Khadki of the Syro-Malankars.
Informative note
The eparchy of Saint Ephrem of Khadki of the Syro-Malankars
The new eparchy, subject to the major archbishop and the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malankara Church, in accordance with the Code of Canons of the Oriental Churches, includes the States of Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as well as parts of the States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The territorium proprium of the archiepiscopal major Syro-Malankara Church extends to the boundaries of the new eparchy.
