Pope appoints Fr. Jose Chittooparambil new bishop of Rajkot

(July 16, 2010) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday appointed a new bishop to the diocese of Rajkot of the eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India. The new bishop of Rajkot in Gujarat state is 55-year old priest Fr. Jose Chittooparambil, a member of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate Congregation, CMI. He takes over from CMI Bishop Gregory Karotemprel, who reached the retirement age of 75 two years ago. Fr. Chittooparambil, currently the superior of the CMI’s St. Xavier’s province of Rajkot, was born on December 10, 1954, at Neeleswaram in Kerala state. He joined the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate in 1977. Following his philosophical and theological studies at the Dharamaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, he obtained a master’s degree in social work from the Mahatma Gandhi University of Kerala. After his priestly ordination in 1985 Fr. Chittoparambil held several responsible positions, such as in charge of mission centres of Rajkot diocese, administrator of a formation centre in Bhopal, director of social works of Rajkot diocese and member of the selection committee for Caritas India projects. The new bishop of Rajkot speaks Malayalam, his mother tongue as well as English, Hindi and Gujarati. India’s Catholic Church is made up of faithful from three rites – the Latin, which is the largest, and two eastern rites, the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara that are based in Kerala.