Bosco Puthur (born 28 May 1946) is an Indian Catholic prelate of the

Syro-Malabar Church The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Cathol ...

, who is Bishop emeritus of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne The St. Thomas the Apostle Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Melbourne is a Syro-Malabar Catholic Church ecclesiastical territory or eparchy of the Catholic Church in Australia. The eparchy was erected by Pope Francis on 11 January 2014. This is ...

. Since 7 December 2023, he serves as

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly in India.

Early life and education

Bosco Puthur was born in Parappur, Kerala, India.

Priesthood

After being ordained as a priest of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Thrissur The Archeparchy of Trichur, in Thrissur District of Central Kerala, India, with nearly half a million Syro-Malabar Catholics now, used to be the largest Catholic diocese in India when it included the Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Irinjala ...

in 1971, Puther held the following posts: * Assistant Vicar in Ollur (1976) * Prefect of the Minor Seminary (1976) * Professor at St. Joseph's Seminary, Aluva (19771992) * Rector of the Minor Seminary (1992) * Protosyncello of the Archeparchy of Trichur (19951999) * Vicar of the Cathedral (1999) * Executive Director of the Liturgical Research Center at Mt. St. Thomas in Kakkanad (19972007) * Rector of the Mangalapuzha Seminary (2007 )

Episcopate profile

In 2010, the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Major Archiepiscopal Church, with prior assent of

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

, selected Puthur as the Curia Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church and of the Major Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly. At the same time, he was appointed as the

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Foratiana. Following the sudden death of Mar Varkey Vithayathil in 2011, he has also served as the

Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...

of the Syro-Malabar Church and of Ernakulam-Angamaly. On 11 January 2014, Puthur was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

as the bishop of the newly erected Eparchy of Melbourne of St. Thomas, which extends over all of Australia. He was also appointed as the

Apostolic Visitor In the Catholic Church, an apostolic visitor (or ''Apostolic Visitator''; Italian: Visitatore apostolico) is a papal representative with a transient mission to perform a canonical visitation of relatively short duration. The visitor is deputed ...

of the Syro-Malabar faithful in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

accepted Puthur's resignation on 14 January 2023, and appointed Mar John Panamthottathil as his successor. On 7 December 2023, the pope appointed Puther as

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly. On 11th January 2025 Bishop resigned from the post of

of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly and pope accepted and relived him from the office on the same day.

References

External links

Appointment as Auxiliary bishop

at

Catholic-Hierarchy.org ''Catholic-Hierarchy.org'' is an online database of bishops and dioceses of the Latin Church and the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches that are in full communion with Rome. The website, not officially sanctioned by the Church, is run as a private pro ...

Bishop Bosco Puthur profile
a
GCatholic
1946 births Syro-Malabar bishops People from Malappuram district Living people Archdiocese of Thrissur Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly Catholic Church in Australia Catholic Church in New Zealand {{Oceania-RC-bishop-stub