By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, May 31, 2019: Pope Francis on May 31 appointed Father Joseph Thykkattil of the Archdiocese of Agra as the bishop of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.
Father Thykattil is currently the parish priest of St. Peter’s Church in Rajasthan state’s Bharatpur.
This was announced at noon in Rome, corresponding to 3:30 pm in India, according to a press release from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India headquarters in New Delhi.
The bishop-elect was born on May 31, 1952, in Enammavu parish under Trichur archdiocese in Kerala. He joined St. Lawrence Minor Seminary, Agra and then studied at St. Joseph’s Regional Major Seminary, Allahabad.
He was ordained a priest on April 25, 1988 for the Agra archdiocese. His first assignment after ordination was as the vice-principal of St. Peter’s College, Agra, a post he held until 1990.
He was the parish priest of Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Agra, during 1990-1999. He was then transferred as the parish priest of at St. Mary’s Church in Noida for three years.
He also served as the rector of St. Lawrence Minor Seminary, Agra, during 2002-2009 and then as the pastor of Sacred Heart Church, Mathura, for three years.
He served as the vicar general of the archdiocese as well as the parish priest of Immaculate Conception Cathedral until 2018.