Antony Prince Panengadan, new Adilabad Bishop

Hyderabad: Father Antony Prince Panengadan was appointed the bishop of the Adilabad Diocese and consecrated at the Bishop House on Thursday.

The appointment was announced by Pope Francis on August 6 at the Vatican and simultaneously by the Major Archbishop George Cardinal Alencherry at the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Mount St. Thomas, at the Bishop’s House, Adilabad.

Bishop Joseph Kunnath presented the newly appointed Bishop with the sash, Pectoral Cross and the ring.

Bishop Panengadan was born on May, 13, 1976, at St. Antony’s Parish, Arimpoor in the Archeparchy of Trichur-Kerala. Having done his initial seminary formation in the CMI Congregation, he joined the mission eparchy of Adilabad. He had his philosophical and theological formation at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore and Ruhalaya Seminary, Ujjain.

He was ordained as a priest on April, 25, 2007, having served at the Adilabad Cathedral Church as assistant parish priest and at Saligaon Parish as its priest. He holds a doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Urbanian University, Rome.

At the time of his appointment, he was serving the eparchy as its Proto-Syncellus and the Cathedral Vicar. Adilabad is one of the 13 Telugu Catholic dioceses and belongs to the Syro Malabar Church. The diocese is active in the areas of education, social, medical, services like hospitals, dispensaries, Balavikasa and tribal hostels.