Mar Raphael Thattil is an Indian Catholic prelate of the

Syro-Malabar Church lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ , native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg , caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...

. He has been a bishop since 2010 and the first bishop of the Eparchy (Diocese) of Shamshabad since 2018. The Diocese of Shamshabad is headquartered in

Telangana Telangana (; , ) is a state in India situated on the south-central stretch of the Indian peninsula on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the eleventh-largest state and the twelfth-most populated state in India with a geographical area of and ...

and has jurisdiction over Syro-Malabar Catholics in Telangana,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Centr ...

Central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...

, and

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. As per

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

's October 2017 letter, through the creation of the Shamshabad Diocese, ‘all India jurisdiction’ of the Syro-Malabar Church has been restored.

Early life

Thattil was born in Thrissur on 21 April 1956. He did his schooling at St Thomas College High School, Thrissur, and joined St Mary's Minor Seminary, Thope on 4 July 1971. He did his ecclesiastical studies in St Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor, and he was ordained priest by Mar Joseph Kundukulam on 21 December 1980.

Career

Thattil was first appointed as the Assistant Vicar of Aranattukara and later as Father Prefect of minor seminary. He was then sent to

Pontifical Oriental Institute The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity. The plan of creating a school of higher learning for Eastern Christianity had been ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for doing his

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

and

Doctor of Canon Law Doctor of Canon Law ( la, Juris Canonici Doctor, JCD) is the doctoral-level terminal degree in the studies of canon law of the Roman Catholic Church. It can also be an honorary degree awarded by Anglican colleges. It may also be abbreviated ICD ...

. After coming back from Rome, he was appointed as the Director of Catechism. In 1998 he was appointed as the first Rector of the Mary Matha Major Seminary. On 15 January 2010 he was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur and Titular Bishop of Buruni.

appointed Bishop Raphael Thattil to the office of the Apostolic Visitor for the Syro-Malabar faithful in India residing outside the proper territory of the Major Archiepiscopal Church. Pope Francis named him the first Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Shamshabad on 10 October 2017 and he was installed on 7 January 2018.

References

External links

Vatican biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thattil, Raphael Living people 1956 births Christian clergy from Thrissur Syro-Malabar Catholics 20th-century Eastern Catholic clergy Syro-Malabar bishops Pontifical Oriental Institute alumni 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops