By Matters India Reporter
Kochi, March 13, 2020: Father Thomas Chathamparampil, former vice-chancellor of Christ University in Bengaluru, was on March 13 elected the prior general of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate (CMI), a Kerala-based congregation.
He succeeds Father Paul Achandy, the current prior general.
Father Chathamparampil, who will hold the office for six years, was born in 1953 in Pulincunnoo, Alappuzha, and was ordained a priest in 1983.
He has a doctorate degree and authored a book “Organisational Commitment of Teachers of Higher Education” based on his doctoral study.
The federal Ministry of Defense awarded him the rank of Honorary Colonel in 2012 when he was the vice chancellor of Christ University, a post he held until 2019>
The CMI is the first indigenous religious congregation in the Catholic Church of India. It was founded in 1831 by Fathers Thomas Palackal and Thomas Porukara, along with Saint Kuriakose Chavara.
Initially the congregation was known as Servants of Mary Immaculate. The CMI priests work in various parts of India and abroad. It had 2,597 members (1,900 priests) in 2016.