Bangalore, November 30, 2023 (CCBI): Pope Francis has appointed Fr. Ambrose Puthenveettil (56) as the Bishop of Kottapuram diocese, Kerala.
Fr. Malcolm Sequeira (62), priest of the diocese of Poona, as the Bishop of Amravati diocese in Maharashtra.
Fr. Linus Pingal Ekka (61) as the Bishop of Gumla diocese in Jharkhand.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas (63), S.F.X., the Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi and the Apostolic Administrator of Daltonganj, is appointed as the Bishop of Daltonganj diocese in Jharkhand.
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Fr Ambrose Puthenveettil, New Bishop of Kottapuram
Fr Ambrose Puthenveettil was born on 21 August 1967 in Palliport, in the Diocese of Kottapuram. He studied Philosophy at St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bangalore and Theology at the Collegium Canisianum in Innsbruck, Austria. He obtained a licentiate in pastoral theology from the Leopold-Franzens-Universität in Innsbruck and a doctorate in missiology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He was ordained a priest on 11 June 1995 for the Diocese of Kottapuram.
He held the following positions: Secretary to the Bishop (1995-1996); Substitute at St. Vincent Ferrer (1996); Assistant Parish Priest of St. Don Bosco (1996-1998); Vice Rector of the St. Francis Assisi Minor Seminary (1998-2001); Assistant Parish Priest of Our Lady of Snow (2007-2008); Professor at St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary in Aluva (2008-2014); Vice Rector of St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary in Aluva (2014-2017); Rector of St. Antony’s Minor Seminary (2017-2019); Parish Priest of St. Michaele Cathedral and Vicar Forane (2019-2022); since 2022, Rector of St. Antony’s Shrine.
The diocese of Kottapuram has a population of about 96,950 Latin Catholics and an area of 3300 sq. km. The diocese has 61 parishes, 132 diocesan priests, 92 religious priests, 253 female religious, and 108 educational institutions. The diocese of Kottapuram was created on July 3, 1987, by bifurcating the northern part of the Archdiocese of Verapoly.
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Fr. Malcolm Sequeira, New Bishop of Amaravati
Fr. Malcolm Sequeira was born on 4 November 1961 in Giriz, in the Diocese of Vasai. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St. Pius X College in Mumbai. He was ordained a priest on 13 April 1996 for the Diocese of Poona.
He has held the following positions: Priestly Assistant at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1996-1998); diocesan director of the Basic Christian Communities (1998-2003); License in Social Communications from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (2005); since 2005, diocesan director for social communications and head of public relations; Rector of St. Patrick’s Cathedral (2008-2013); since 2009, diocesan consultant; since 2012, Vicar General; Director of the Property Office (2013-2016); parish priest of the Divine Mercy Church (2016-2019); since 2019, Parish Priest of St. Anne’s Church.
The diocese of Amaravati became vacant on December 3, 2018, when Bishop Elias Gonsalves was appointed as the Archbishop of Nagpur. It was bifurcated from the Archdiocese of Nagpur on May 8, 1955. It was comprised of the four districts of Vidarbha Viz. Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, and Yavatmal and the three districts of Marathwada Viz. Aurangabad, Parbhani, and Nanded.
It has an area of 46,090 square kilometers, and the Catholic population is 15,680. There are 20 parishes, 36 diocesan priests, 23 religious priests, and 238 religious sisters.
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Fr Linus Pingal Ekka New Bishop of Gumla
Fr Linus Pingal Ekka was born on 23 September 1961 in Chainpur, in the Diocese of Gumla. He attended the Master of Arts at St. Aloysius College in Jabalpur and obtained a licentiate in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He was ordained a priest on 22 January 1994 for the Diocese of Gumla.
He held the following positions and carried out further studies: Assistant Parish Priest and then Parish Priest of Dalmadi (1994-1995); Rector of the Karondabera Preparatory Seminary (1995-1997 and 1999-2000); Doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, while carrying out pastoral service in the Archdiocese of Udine (1997-1999); Guest professor at St. Albert’s Regional College in Ranchi (2000-2002); Residential professor and Prefect of the Philosophy department at St. Albert’s Regional College in Ranchi (2002-2011); Parish Vicar in Ampezzo, in the Archdiocese of Udine (2011-2017); Chancellery of the Diocese of Gumla and in charge of matrimonial cases (2017-2020); Judicial Vicar and Judge of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal (2019-2020); since 2021, Diocesan Administrator of Gumla.
The Diocese of Gumla became vacant by the death of Bishop Paul Alois Lakra on June 15, 2021. It was created from the Archdiocese of Ranchi on May 28, 1993. It has a Catholic population of 1,93,000, parishes 38, diocesan priests 138, religious priests 92, religious sisters 371 and institutions 346.
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Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas new Bishop of Daltonganj
The bishop Theodore was born on November 9, 1960, in Camurlim, Archdiocese of Goa. He studied philosophy at St. Charles Seminary in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and theology at the All-India Mission Seminary of the Society of Pilar, Goa. He holds a Master of Arts in political science from Nagpur University and a licensure and doctorate in sacred scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He was ordained a priest on April 24, 1988.
Since his ordination, he has held a number of pastoral roles, including: 1988-1993: Pastoral work in Punjab, North India, in parishes and in two schools as Vice-Principal and Principal; 1994-2001: Studies for the Licentiate and Doctorate at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome; 1998-2004: Coordinator of the works of the Society of Pilar in Rome; 2005: superior delegate for the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier in Europe; 2006: Official of the Pontifical Council for Culture; since 2010: procurator general of the Society of St. Francis Xavier, member of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses, and lecturer in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Ranchi on July 9, 2014, at the age of 53, and was ordained bishop on August 3, 2014. He was the Secretary General of the CBCI from March 2016 to June 2019. He is currently the Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Ecology.
The Diocese of Daltonganj was vacant in 2016 with the resignation of Bishop Gabriel Kujur, S.J., and Most Rev. Anand Jojo, Bishop of Hazaribag, was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of Daltonganj on July 7, 2016.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary General, CCBI