Bishop Mathew Nellikunnel

Bishop Mathew Nellikunnel, Bishop of Gorakhpur (Syro-Malabar), was born on November 13, 1970, in Mariapuram, in the Eparchy of Idukki (Syro-Malabar). After his school studies he entered the minor seminary of the Khrist Jyoti Province of Punjab-Rajasthan of the Congregation of Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, in which he made his first profession on May 17, 1990, and his perpetual profession on May 12, 1996. He was ordained a priest on December 30, 1998, by George Punnakottil, Bishop Emeritus of Kothamangalam. He then served his congregation as assistant novice master, as rector of the minor seminary, as parish priest and as school manager. In 2005 he went to Rome for further studies, and after obtaining a doctorate in philosophy he was appointed a teacher at the Little Flower Major Seminary in Aluva. He subsequently spent three years in pastoral ministry in the Diocese of Regensburg, in Germany. In 2015 he was elected provincial of the Khrist Jyoti Province of Punjab-Rajasthan, and on the completion of his term in 2018 he was appointed rector of the Little Flower Major Seminary. He was elected Bishop of Gorakhpur (Syro-Malabar) by the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church, and his election was confirmed on August 26, 2023. He received episcopal ordination on November 5, 2023, at Gorakhpur, with George Alencherry as principal consecrator and Raphy Manjaly and Thomas Thuruthimattam as co-consecrators.