Catholic diocese of Madras-Mylapore gets new archbishop

Archbishop George Antonysamy, Apostolic nuncio to West African Countries has been appointed as the new archbishop of Madras-Mylapore.

The appointment was made by Pope Benedict XVI after the resignation of Archbishop A Malayappan Chinnappa.

Archbishop Antonysamy, the Pope's Ambassador to Gambia, Liberia and Sierra Leone, is the sixth archbishop of this historical and amalgamated archdiocese.

A native of Trichy, Tamil Nadu, Antonysamy was ordained as a priest on November 19, 1980. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from Lateran University in Rome, Italy.

In 1987, he was chosen to the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See (Vatican) by Pope John Paul II and was posted in the Apostolic Nunciatures (Vatican Embassies) in countries that include Indonesia, Algeria, Tunis, Libya, Morocco, the Central African Republic, Congo, Chad in Central Africa, Bangladesh and the Baltic Countries.

On August 4, 2005, Antonysamy was elected as Titular Archbishop of Sulci in Sardinia, Italy, by Pope Benedict XVI and had his Episcopal Ordination on September 21, 2005 in Trichy.

Apart from Tamil and English, he speaks Italian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Indonesian.

The Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore functions from Chennai. The diocese is in charge of over 100 parishes.

According to a release, Archbishop Malayappan Chinnappa will remain as Apostolic Administrator till the new bishop take canonical possession of his diocese.