New Faridabad diocese bishop installed

The Syro-Malabar Catholics living in Delhi and neighbouring states will now officially have a diocese of their own.

On May 26, Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara was installed as the first bishop of the Diocese of Faridabad.

The Episcopal ordination of Archbishop Bharanikulangara took place at the Thyagaraja Indoor Stadium in New Delhi and was witnessed by thousands of faithful.

Dignitaries included Cardinal George Alencherry, the head of Syro Malabar Church; Archbishop Vincent Concessao of Delhi; Cardinal Oswald Gracias, CBCI President; and Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, Apostolic Nuncio, among others.

The new Diocese of Faridabad comprises the states of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu-Kashmir and the districts of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, UP.

The announcement for erection of a diocese in the region was made simultaneously in Vatican and in Kochi on March 6, 2012. With this, the number of dioceses of the church has gone up to 30, including the 10 outside Kerala.

The Faridabad diocese will serve some 1.5 lakh Syro-Malabar Catholics. A total of 88 priests and 855 religious women work at the convents, religious homes, schools and hospitals in the area.

Archbishop Bharanikulangara, whose office will be the Christu Raja Cathedral Church, exhorted his congregation to learn a new language of witnessing to Christ in the vast area entrusted to his care and for this he appealed for their wholehearted cooperation and support.

The ordination ceremony of the new bishop was followed by a public meeting which was inaugurated by Sheila Dikshit, the Chief Minister of Delhi.

Bharanikulangara belongs to the Parish of Karippassery under the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly.

The Syro Malabar Church is the second largest among the Eastern Catcholic Churches. The Church serves over 4.6 million believers spread out in India and different parts of the world.