George Jacob Koovakad (born 11 August 1973) is an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic 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 prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. Since 2020 he has worked in the offices of the Holy See's Secretariat of State in the Journeys Office, which was responsible for organizing

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 ...

' overseas trips, and he has headed that office since 2021. From 2006 to 2020, he fulfilled assignments in several countries while working in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. Pope Francis made Koovakad a

on 7 December 2024. He appointed Koovakad a titular archbishop on 25 October 2024, and he was consecrated on 24 November.

Biography

George Koovakad was born in

Chethipuzha Chethipuzha is in Changanacherry , in kottayam district, Kerala, India. Chethipuzha is home to many prominent educational and healthcare institutions, including Placid Vidya Vihar, Kristu Jyothi School, and the St. Thomas Hospital, Chethip ...

, in the municipality of

Changanacherry Changanassery, () formerly Changanacherry, is a municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 I ...

, Kottayam district,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, on 11 August 1973. He earned his intermediate and bachelor's degrees in chemistry from SB College, Changanassery in 1994 where he was also the president of Catholic Students Movement in the college. He obtained a licentiate in 2004, studying at St Thomas Minor Seminary, Kurichy, and St Joseph Pontifical Seminary,

Aluva Aluva () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality and a northern suburb of the city of Kochi in Kerala. It is located about north of the city centre. Aluva is known for the Aluva Sivarathri festival, Sivarathri festival, which is celebra ...

. He was ordained a priest of the

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry (; is a Catholic East-Syriac Rite archeparchy with an area of 24,595 km2 comprising the districts of Kottayam, Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala ...

on 24 July 2004 by Archbishop

Joseph Powathil Mar Joseph Powathil () (14 August 1930 – 18 March 2023) was an Indian prelate of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He was the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Changanassery, serving from 1985 until 2007. He was also the first bi ...

. He served for a term as assistant vicar of St Mary's Church, Parel, Changanacherry. Moving to Rome, he obtained a doctorate in canon law in 2006 from the

Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (, ) is a Roman Catholic university under the Curial Congregation for Catholic Education, now entrusted to the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei, or more commonly called Opus Dei. It was started i ...

with a thesis on "The Obligation of Poverty for Secular Clerics in the Codes of Canon Law". After completing the preparatory program at the

Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (, ) is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See. Despite its name, the P ...

, he joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 2006. He worked in the nunciature in Algeria and then served as secretary of the nunciature in South Korea from 2009 to 2012 and in Iran from 2012 to 2014 and as counsellor of the nunciatures in Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018 and in Venezuela from 2018 to 2020. On 1 October 2014 he was given the title

Chaplain of His Holiness Chaplain of His Holiness is a title of distinction given by the Pope in recognition of a priest's service to the Church. They are addressed with the honorific of "Monsignor" and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and ve ...

, and on 13 December 2019 that of

Prelate of Honor of His Holiness A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.

. In July 2020 he joined the staff of the Secretariat of State and since 2021 has organized several papal trips, including visits to Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan, as well as a lengthy trip to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore. In 2024 he visited India to lead Holy Week services at his family's home parish, Lourde Matha Parish at Mammoodu in Changanacherry. On 6 October 2024, Pope Francis announced he intended to make Koovakad a cardinal on 8 December, a date that was later changed to 7 December. According to church sources, he will remain in a post at the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. Fr. Antony Vadakkekara, spokesman for the

, said, "It is a great honor for the Syro-Malabar Church as one of its sons is elevated as cardinal directly, which is first in India." Before Koovakad's elevation to cardinal, only the

Major Archbishop In the Eastern Catholic Churches, major archbishop (sometimes also styled as major archeparch) is a title for the chief hierarch ("Father and Head") of an autonomous ('' sui juris'') particular Church that has not been "endowed with the patriarc ...

of the Syro-Malabar Church has been made cardinal. Pope Francis appointed Koovakad titular archbishop of Nisibis of the Chaldeans on 25 October 2024. Koovakad received his episcopal consecration on 24 November 2024 in Changanassery Cathedral from Major Archbishop

Raphael Thattil Raphael Thattil () (born 21 April 1956) is an Indian prelate who serves as the List of major archbishops of the Syro-Malabar Church, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Church, a ...

. On 7 December 2024, Pope Francis made him a cardinal, assigning him as a member of the order of cardinal deacons the deaconry of Sant'Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia. In place of the red biretta given to the new cardinals of the Latin rite, Francis placed a black and red shash on Koovakad's head. The shash is commonly used by other churches of

East Syriac The East Syriac Rite, or East Syrian Rite (also called the Edessan Rite, Assyrian Rite, Persian Rite, Chaldean Rite, Nestorian Rite, Babylonian Rite or Syro-Oriental Rite), is an Eastern Christian liturgical rite that employs the Divine Liturg ...

tradition, such as the

Chaldean Catholic Church The Chaldean Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites, particular church (''sui iuris'') in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is ...

. On 11 January 2025, he was named a member of the

Dicastery for the Eastern Churches The Dicastery for the Eastern Churches (also called the Dicastery for the Oriental Churches), previously named the Congregation for the Oriental Churches or Congregation for the Eastern Churches (), is a dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible f ...

. On 24 January 2025, he was appointed as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. He is the third prelate from India to head a Curial department, the first from the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. He continues to serve as head of the Journeys Section of the Secretariat of State. Koovakad participated as an elector in the

2025 papal conclave A conclave was held on 7 and 8 May 2025 to elect a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, Francis, who had died on 21 April 2025. Of the 135 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. Cardinal Piet ...

that elected

Pope Leo XIV Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the fir ...

. As the junior cardinal deacon, he was responsible for a variety of administrative functions, such as selecting by lot the cardinals responsible for counting the ballots, and for opening and closing the doors of the Sistine Chapel as necessary.

Notes

References

External links

Koovakad on Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koovakad, George Jacob Living people 1973 births Christian clergy from Kerala Pontifical University of the Holy Cross alumni Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy alumni Officials of the Roman Curia Diplomats for the Holy See Syro-Malabar archbishops Cardinals created by Pope Francis Indian cardinals

Biography

See also

Notes

References

External links