By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru, Feb 7, 2026: History was made February 7 when the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India elected Cardinal Antony Poola, archbishop of Hyderabad, as its president for a two-year term.
The 64-year-old cardinal is the first Dalit prelate to head India’s nearly 20 million Catholics. Earlier during 2004-2008, the Catholic Church in India had a tribal as its leader in Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo (1939-2023), the archbishop of Ranchi.
Cardinal Poola will succeed Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, who held the post for the past four years.
The election took place during the conference’s ongoing biennial plenary at St John’s Medical College, Bengaluru, southern India.
The plenary has brought together bishops from India’s three ritual Churches – Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara – to deliberate on concerning faith, mission, social responsibility, and the role of the Church in contemporary India.
The election of the new president was one of the key decisions of the assembly, reports catholicconnect.in, a Church information service.
It points out that Cardinal Poola assumes leadership of the Catholic bishops’ apex body at a time of significant social, pastoral, and constitutional challenges facing the Church and the nation.
The plenary acknowledged Archbishop Thazhath’s leadership, especially during a period marked by growing concerns over religious freedom, social polarization, and the need for deeper interfaith engagement. Several bishops commended his stress on constitutional values, dialogue, and unity among the Churches in India.
The catholicconnect.in points out that Cardinal Poola is respected for his pastoral sensitivity, commitment to social justice, and advocacy for the marginalized. “As the first Dalit cardinal of India, his leadership carries strong symbolic and pastoral significance, particularly for an inclusive and synodal Church,” it adds.
Cardinal Poola was born on November 15, 1961, at Chindukur, Durvesi Parish, in the Diocese of Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. When poverty forced to leave school after the seventh grade, missionaries helped him continue his schooling.
After attending the Minor Seminary in Nuzvid, he studied at St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). He was ordained a priest on February 20, 1992, for the Diocese of Cuddapah.
He served as the parish priest for one year each in St. Mary’s Cathedral from 1992; Amagampalli, and Tekurpet. He was the parish priest of Badvel for five years from 1995 to 2000.
He was pastor in Veerapalli during 2000-2001.
He studied for a master’s degree in health pastoral care and took courses in theology at Loyola University Chicago. He also worked at St. Genevieve Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Returning to India, he served as director of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging during 2004-2008. He was also diocesan councilor, secretary for education, deputy administrator of the diocesan schools.
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Kurnool on February 8, 2008.
Pope Francis elevated him as the Hyderabad archbishop on November 19, 2020. He was installed there on January 3, 2021.
The same Pope made him a cardinal on August 27, 2022.