CSI elects Bishop Devakadasham as new moderator

The Bishop of Kanyakumari Diocese, Gnanasigamony Devakadasham, has been elected as the new Moderator of the Church of South India.

Bishop Devakadasham, who is the present Deputy Moderator of the Protestant denomination, secured 219 votes against 125 defeating Bishop V Devasahayam, the Bishop of Chennai.

Bishop Devakadasham, who joined the CSI fold on Sept 5, 1972, will be officially installed for a two-year term in a ceremony to be held on Monday.

Ordained as a priest on Jan 11, 1981, Devakadasham became the 5th Bishop of the Kanyakumari Diocese in 2001.

The three-day meeting of the Synod, which began in Kanyakumari on Friday, also elected Govada Dyvasirvadam, Bishop of Krishna Godavari Diocese, as the new Deputy Moderator.

Joined by about 400 bishops and priests from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Jaffna province in Sri Lanka, the meeting saw the re-election of MM Philip as the general secretary of the Synod for the second consecutive term.

S Vasanthakumar, the Presiding Bishop and Moderator of the Church of South India, presided over the meeting after conducting special prayers at the St. Peters Church, Kanyakumari.

"The Church of South India resets agenda and action through the Synod session at Kanyakumari," explained the CSI Synod general secretary, MM Philip.

"The efforts of Synod officers, Bishops and heads of committee are making new annals of victory and vivacious witnessing. The Church needs prayerful support of all the believers," he said.

Formed in the year 1947, the Church of South India is divided into 22 dioceses and currently has a membership of over 3.8 million.