Thiruvananthapuram: Baselios Cardinal Cleemis Catholicos has announced two new coadjutor bishops for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Samuel Mar Irenios, auxiliary bishop of the major archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram, is appointed the coadjutor of Pathanamthitta, and Yoohanon Mar Theodosius, bishop of the curia and the apostolic visitator to Europe and Oceania, is appointed the coadjutor bishop of Muvattupuzha. The announcement was made on Tuesday at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Pattom, here at 3.30 p.m. after Pope Francis gave assent to the decision of the synod of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
The new bishops will take over the full charge once the present Pathanamthitta Bishop Yoohanon Mar Chrysostom and Muvattupuzha Bishop Abraham Mar Julios retire from service. Mar Irenios was born on May 13, 1952 at Kadammanitta in Pathanamthitta district. His parents are the late K. C. Thomas and Annamma. Mar Theodosius completed his degrees of BA, MA, MPhil and PhD from Kerala University. He worked as a lecturer in Mar Ivanios College and as the Principal of St. John’s College Anchal. His thesis for doctorate was on the poetry of Dr. Ayyapppa Panicker.
Mar Theodosius was ordained priest on December 22, 1985. He secured first rank in BA Malayalam Literature from Kerala University and doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. He served in various capacities, including as parish priest, secretary to the late Archbishop Benedict Mar Gregorios, chancellor of Thiruvananthapuram Major Archdiocese, rector of St. Aloysius Minor Seminary, rector of Malankara Major Seminary, CBCI core team president and vicar- general of the diocese of Gurgaon.
