Appointment of auxiliary bishop of Kottayam of the Syro-Malabars, India

The Synod of the Major Archiepiscopal Syro-Malabar Church has elected the Reverend Thomas Animoottil, of the clergy of the archeparchy of Kottayam, as auxiliary of the same archeparchy, to which the Holy Father had granted his prior assent, assigning him the titular see of Troina.

Curriculum vitae

The Reverend Thomas Animoottil was born on 13 January 1962 in Payyavoor, Kerala, India. After his primary and secondary studies in Payyavoor and his university studies in Mysore, he began his priestly formation at the Saint Stanislaus Minor Seminary of Kottayam.

He completed his studies in philosophy and theology at Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Mangalore, and was ordained a priest on 13 April 1989. He was sent to Rome to further his studies at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, and was awarded a licentiate in canon law in 1993.

He held the following offices in his archeparchy: parish priest of Pulinjal; secretary to the eparchial bishop; eparchial chancellor; secretary to the Pastoral Council; ecclesiastical adviser to the Catholic Nurses Guild of India; and vicar forane (or protopresbyter of the deanery) of Uzhavoor and Kaduthuruthy. From 2003 to 2008, he exercised his pastoral ministry in the eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Chicago of the Syro-Malabar Church, United States of America.

Since 2025, he has served as pro-protosyncellus of the archeparchy of Kottayam.