Mar John Panamthottathil (born 31 May 1966) is an Indian-born

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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 ...

in the Australia and Oceania. He is currently the eparch 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 ...

Biography

Early life and ministry in India

John Panamthottathil was born in

Peravoor Peravoor is a town and grama panchayat in Kannur district of Kerala state in India. It is located east of Kannur and north east of Thalassery. Iritty, the nearest municipality, is north of Peravoor. Peravoor is situated in the Western Ghat ...

, Kerala. John entered the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate Syro Malabar Institute of Pontifical Right in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

where he gave his solemn profession. On 26 December 1997, He was ordained a priest by Archeparch George Valiamattam into the Archeparchy of Tellicherry. He continued his studies at Dharamaram College for Philosophy and Theology along with a Master of Arts in English Literature at Devagiri College (Kozhikode) and a Master in Education a
St. Joseph's College, Mannanam
He also was a parochial priest, educator, and provincial superior in

Thamarassery Thamarassery, formerly known as Thazhmalachery, is one of the taluks and a major hill town in the Kozhikode district of Kerala, India, 30 km north-east of Kozhikode, Kozhikode city and 29 km east of Koyilandy. The town lies on National H ...

. He speaks

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, English, and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Ministry in Australia

John, while he was the Provincial of St. Thomas Province of the C.M.I. Congregation, has visited Sacred Heart Church, Lawrenceburg, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville, Tennessee, United States in 2008, and in 2015, he moved to Australia to serve in the Latin Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane until 2020. In

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, He served at an assistant pastor at Cathedral of St Stephen and Saint Bernardine Church, Regents Park and then served at Our Lady and Saint Dympna's Church, Aspley as its parochial pastor. While his time serving

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Congregations, he also served the Syro Malabar community in Australia.

Return to Ministry in India

In 2020, He returned to India where he joined the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Mananthavady and served as the parish priest of Saint Elias Church, Nirvilpuzha until his appointment as bishop. He also served as an English Educator at the Bendictine Ashram, Makkiyad.

Eparch

On 14 January 2023,

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 ...

George Alencherry George Alencherry (; born 19 April 1945) is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the position from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was elected by the Holy Synod of the ...

announced the appointment of John Panamthottahil as the 2nd Eparch of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

after

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 ...

accepted Bishop Bosco Puthur's resignation after he reached the age of 75. Puthur, Alencherry, and Panamthottahil hosted a press conference announcing the appointment after the January meeting of the Synod of Bishops. On 31 May 2023, He was installed by Alencherry in the presence of Archbishop of Brisbane

Mark Coleridge Mark Benedict Coleridge (born 25 September 1948) is an Australian Catholic prelate who has served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Brisbane since 2012. He previously served as Archbishop of Canberra–Goulburn (2006–2012) and as an auxiliary ...

, Archbishop of Tellichery Joseph Pamplany, and Bishop-Emertius Bosco Puthur at Our Lady Guardian of Plants Chaldean Catholic Church in Campbellfield, Victoria.

References

External links

Indian Eastern Catholic bishops Syro-Malabar bishops 1966 births Living people People from Kannur district {{SyroMalabar-bishop-stub