Mar George Alencherry

His Beatitude  Mar George Alencherry
Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly
Church	Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
Elected	24 May 2011
Enthroned	29 May 2011 (&100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000175000000175 days)
Predecessor	Varkey Vithayathil
Other posts	Bishop of Thuckalay (1997 - 2011)
Orders
Ordination	19 November 1972 (Priest)
Consecration	2 February 1997 (Bishop) by Joseph Powathil
Personal details
Born	19 April 1945 (1945-04-19) (age 66) Thuruthy, Kerala, India

Styles of George Alencherry
Reference style	His Beatitude
Spoken style	Your Beatitude
Religious style	not applicable
Posthumous style	not applicable

Mar George Alencherry [Malayalam: മാര്‍ ഗീവര്‍ഗിസ് ആലഞ്ചേരി (Mar Giwargis Aalancheri)] (born 19 April 1945) is the current Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly succeeding Varkey Vithayathil as head of the Eastern Catholic Syro-Malabar Church since his confirmation by Pope Benedict XVI on 25 May 2011.^[1]. According to Syro-Malabar tradition, he should be granted the title of "Patriarch of Mar Thoma Nasranis and the Gate of All India."^[2][3]

Mar George Alenchery, first elected Major Archbishop with former CBCI president Mar Joseph Powathil.

Alencherry was born in Thuruthy, Changanacherry. He was ordained a priest on 19 November 1972. He was secretary of the Archeparch of Changanacherry and assistant pastor of the cathedral as well as director of "Sunday Schools" in the archeparchy.

He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Seminary of St Joseph in Alwaye and earned a doctorate at the Institut Catholique de Paris, where he specialised in catechesis. On his return from Paris, he was appointed director of the Centre for Catechesis. He then directed the Pastoral Orientation Centre, Cochin, inter-ritual, which depends of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC).

He served as a professor of Pastoral Counselling and Systematic Theology at the Faculty of "Paurastya Vidyapitham, Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies of Vadavathoor, Kottayam, and at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Alwaye. He was vicar general of the archeparchy from 11 November 1996 until he was appointed first eparch of Thuckalay and was ordained on 2 February 1997.

On 24 May 2011 he was elected Major Archbishop. Pope Benedict XVI confirmed the election on 25 May 2011. Major Archbishop Alencherry said his services will be for all people of India. He stressed inter-rite relations, inter-faith harmony and ecumenism.

He is the first head of the Syro-Malabar Church's to be elected by its synod. When Pope John Paul II made the Syro-Malabar Church a major archiepiscopal church in 1992, appointing Cardinal Antony Padiyara as its first major archbishop, he reserved the power to appoint the major archbishop and bishops. However, in 2004, the Holy See granted full administrative powers to the church, including the power to elect bishops.^[4].

Links

• Biography at GCatholic.com
• Mar Giwargis Alencherry, the Patriarch of Mar Thoma Nasranis and the Gate of All India
• Biography at catholic-hierarhy.com
• Major Arch Bishop Alencheril Mar Giwargis II Bava-The Patriarch of Syro Malabar Church and The Gate of All India- A Discussion on The Historical Hierarchical Status of The Church of Saint Thomas Christians
• Syro Malabar Online Community

References

1. ^ CONFERMA DELL’ELEZIONE DELL’ARCIVESCOVO MAGGIORE DI ERNAKULAM-ANGAMALY DEI SIRO-MALABARESI
2. ^ [1].
3. ^ [2].
4. ^ Bishop Alencherry is new Syro-Malabar Church head