By Matters India Reporter
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14, 2023: Bethany Father Mathai Kadavil has been appointed as the new bishop of the Khadki diocese of the Syro-Malankara Church.
The appointment was announced in the St Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom, Thiruvananthapuram December 12. Earlier, Pope Francis approved the name of the 60-year-old priest after the Synod of Bishops of the Syro Malankara Major Archiepiscopal Church had elected as a bishop.
The bishop-elect is currently the superior general of the Institute of the Order of the Imitation of Christ, or the Bethany Ashram, a congregation under the Oriental rite.
The bishop-elect was born on December 21, 1963, in the St James parish under the diocese of Muvattupuzha, Kerala. He joined the Bethany Ashram in 1979 and took his first vows on May 15, 1981. He studied Philosophy and Theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune and was ordained a priest on October 9, 1989.
As a priest, he held the office of vice-rector of postulants for a year. From 1990 to 1995, he exercised the ministry in the Archeparchy of Thiruvalla of the Syro-Malankara people as parish priest, as well as diocesan director of youth pastoral care Malankara Catholic Youth Ministry.
At the same time, he was responsible for the Bethany publications publishing house of his Religious Institute and the management of the Bethany Book Centre. From 1993 to 1995 he coordinated the Malankara Catholic Youth Ministry.
He then continued his studies at the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium), where he obtained a doctorate in Theology in 2002. On his return to India, he worked again in the pre-novitiate for a year.
From 2003 to 2006 he was provincial councillor with particular attention to the Bombay-Pune Missions. From 2006 to 2009 he served as the pastor of two parishes, before becoming the provincial in 2009, a post he held until 2015.
From 2011 to 2017 he was secretary of the Theological Commission of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council. He has served as the secretary of the Synodal Commission for Theology of Syro Malankara Catholic Church since 2018.
From 2017 to 2020, he held the positions of professor and resident formator at Malankara Major Seminary, Thiruvananthapuram. In 2021, he was elected superior general of the congregation.
He is the author of four books and around 130 articles in English and Malayalam. He also knows Sanskrit, Syriac, German, and French.
The eparchy of Khadki is based in Pune, Maharashtra. Pope Francis appointed Bethany Father Thomas Mar Anthonios Valiyavilayil as its first bishop.
The exarchate extends over the entire states of Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, together with parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It has 27 parishes served by 21 priests, 13 convents of women religious and about ten schools, including a college.
The majority of its faithful are found in Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Nashik, Aurangabad and Nagpur.