Syro-Malabar Church announces new archbishop of Changanassery, bishop of Shamshabad

Mar Thomas Tharayil appointed as archbishop of Changanassery and Mar Prince Antony Panengadan as bishop of Shamshabad.

Mar Thomas Tharayil has been appointed as the archbishop of Changanassery and Mar Prince Antony Panengadan as the bishop of Shamshabad.

Major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church Mar Raphael Thattil appointed them at the ongoing third session of the 32nd synod of bishops of the Church which began at the Major Archiepiscopal Curia in Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad, on August 19.

Archbishop Mar Joseph Perumthottam, the outgoing metropolitan of Changanassery, and Bishop Mar Joseph Kollamparampil, the administrator of Shamshabad, presented bouquets to the new bishops after which Bishop Mar Joseph Kallarangatt, member of the Permanent Synod and the bishop of the eparchy of Palai felicitated the newly appointed bishops, in the presence of the bishops attending the synod and priests and religious of the curia.

Bishop Mar Thomas Tharayil was born on February 2, 1972, as the seventh son of T.J. Joseph and Mariamma at the cathedral parish in the archeparchy of Changanassery. He attended school in Changanassery and pursued further studies at S.B. College, Changanassery. He started his priestly formation at St. Thomas Minor Seminary, Kurichy, and pursued philosophical and theological studies at St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary in Vadavathoor. He was ordained a priest on January 1, 2000, by Archbishop Mar Joseph Powathil. Later on, he got doctorate in psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He also served as the Director of Danahalaya, Institute of Formation in Punnapra, Alappuzha, and taught at various seminaries and institutes. He was elected as the auxiliary bishop of the archeparchy of Changanacherry and ordained bishop in April 2017. Proficient in Malayalam, English, German, Italian and Spanish, he has authored books on psychology.

Bishop Antony Prince Panengadan was born on March 13, 1977, as the second son of P.J. Devassy and A.M. Kochuthressia. After completing his school education, he joined the CMI congregation. After the novitiate, he left the congregation to join the eparchy of Adilabad. He completed his philosophical formation at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, and his theological formation at Ruhalaya, Ujjain. He was ordained priest in April 2007 and went on to obtain doctorate degree in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome. He was appointed the second bishop of the eparchy of Adilabad in 2015 and was consecrated and installed as bishop of Adilabad in October, 2015. He is fluent in Malayalam, English, Telugu, Italian, and German. Their date of installation will be intimated later, says a release from the Syro-Malabar Church.