Joseph Kalathiparambil (born 6 October 1952) is the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Verapoly. He was formerly the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants. He also served as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calicut for almost nine years. Archbishop Kalathiparambil is fluent in speaking and writing Malayalam, English, Italian and Latin.

Life

Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil was born on 6 October 1952 in Vaduthala, a suburb of the city of

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

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 ...

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 ...

. Bishop Joseph was ordained a priest on 13 March 1978 by Archbishop Joseph Kelanthara of the Verapoly Archdiocese. He is specialized in Canon Law from Rome and was appointed Vice Rector of Collegio San Paolo in Rome from 1984 to 1989. Later he moved back to Kerala and was appointed Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Verapoly on 15 August 1989. He served as the Chancellor for the

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

from 1989 to 1996. He was granted the title of Chaplain of His Holiness,

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

, in 1989 by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. On 6 November 1996, he was made the Vicar General of Archdiocese of Verapoly. He was advanced to the papal Prelacy of Honour on 31 January 2001. He served as the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese from 1996 to 2002. He was nominated Bishop of Calicut on 19 April 2002 and was consecrated on 19 May 2002. He served as the Bishop of Calicut for almost 9 years and was then appointed by

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 ...

as the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants on 22 February 2011. On 5 March, he was also appointed as a Member of the

Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP; ) was a congregation (Roman Curia), congregation of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church in Rome, responsible for Catholic missions, missionary work and related activities. It is also kn ...

. Dr. Joseph Kalathiparambil was appointed as the Archbishop of Verapoly 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 ...

on 31 October 2016. His formal installation as Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Verapoly took place on 18 December 2016. Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, and Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum were a part of the installation ceremony.

Episcopal motto

The motto of the Bishop's Coat of Arms is "Love is the greatest of all" ("Super Omnia Caritas") (I Cor. 13: 13).

Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants

On 22 February 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil the Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants. After serving as the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Calicut for almost 9 years, Bishop Joseph returned to Rome to take up his new appointment. He worked under Pope Benedict XVI for two years until Benedict's resignation as pope. He continued to serve under Benedict's successor,

. He has served mass with Pope Francis.

Visit to the Port of Tilbury, London

On 28 September 2011, a day before World Maritime Day, Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil visited the

Port of Tilbury The Port of Tilbury is a port located on the River Thames at Tilbury in Essex, England. It serves as the principal port for London, as well as being the main United Kingdom port for handling the importation of paper. There are extensive facili ...

, the principal Port for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The main purpose of this visit was to oversee the work of the Catholic Maritime Agency, Apostleship of the Sea. Bishop Joseph also attended the launch of the Maritime Piracy – Humanitarian Response Programme in London. This was one of his first official overseas visits as Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants.

Mass on cruise ships

On 21 March 2015, Bishop Joseph Kalathiparambil celebrated mass on board the cruise ship '' Costa Fascinosa'' after five passengers from the vessel were killed in the Bardo National Museum attack. On 16 October 2015, he celebrated mass for the crew of MV ''Britannia'' when it docked in Civitavecchia, and on 17 May 2016, for the crew of .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalathiparambil, Joseph 1952 births Living people Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants Members of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples Christian clergy from Ernakulam district 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India