Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad, Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue, Head of Apostolic Journeys at the Secretariat of State, was born in Chethipuzha, India, on 11 August 1973. He was ordained a priest on 24 July 2004, and incardinated in Changanacherry. After graduating in canon law, he entered the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See on 1 July 2006. From 2006 to 2009 he served at the Apostolic Nunciature in Algeria as secretary. On 2 March 2009, he was transferred to the Apostolic Nunciature in Korea and subsequently, in 2012, to the Apostolic Nunciature in Iran. On 16 February 2015, he was appointed counsellor of the Apostolic Nunciature in Costa Rica, where he remained until 2018. Subsequently, from 2018 to 2020, he served as a counsellor of the Nunciature in Venezuela. Since 10 July 2020, he has worked in the Secretariat of State in the Section for General Affairs. In 2021, Pope Francis charged him with the organization of Apostolic Journeys. On 25 October 2024, he was appointed titular Archbishop of Nisibis of the Chaldeans, receiving episcopal ordination the following 24 November from His Beatitude Raphael Thattil, major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, in Changanacherry.

Since 21 January 2025 he has served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue.

He was created and proclaimed a Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 7 December 2024, and was assigned the Deaconry S. Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia.

Member of:

·      Dicastery for the Eastern Churches