Pope Benedict XVI Appoints New Bishop for the Diocese of Kohima, India

(June 16, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday appointed Father James Thoppil of the Diocese of Kohima, Nagaland and currently Rector of the Oriens Theological College at Shillong, Meghalaya, as the new Bishop of Kohima. Fr James Thoppil who belongs to the Syro-Malabar Rite, was born in 1959 at Kottayam Kerala, South India. He did his Minor Seminary studies at Dibrugarh, Assam and later did his philosophy and theology studies at the Oriens Theological College and the Sacred Heart Theological College in Shillong. He was ordained priest on 12 January 1986 for the diocese of Kohima. He did his licentiate and doctorate studies in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome. He has been the Rector of the Oriens Theological College since 2007. Kohima Diocese, situated in the North Eastern Region of India has 2.1 million people of whom 57, 500 are Catholics. The diocese has 38 parishes served by 156 priests of whom 72 are religious, 7 religious brothers, 324 nuns and 26 seminarians. The Kohima Diocese has been vacant since October 30, 2009, following the resignation of the earlier Bishop Jose Mukala.