Bishop of Srikakulam
Vijaya Kumar Rayarala, P.I.M.E., was born on October 15, 1969, in Khammam, within the Diocese of Khammam. In 1990, he entered the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (P.I.M.E.); from 1990 to 1991, he completed an orientation course at St. John’s Minor Seminary in Nidadavolu, Eluru. From 1991 to 1993, he pursued philosophy studies at Jnana Deep Vidyapeet in Pune. From 1993 to 1998, he studied theology and spirituality at the P.I.M.E. International Theologate in Monza, Italy. From 2000 to 2003, he obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the University of San Luigi in Posillipo, Naples. He made his solemn profession in P.I.M.E. on August 25, 1997, and was ordained a priest for the same Institute on August 29, 1998. Following his priestly ordination, he held the following positions: vocation animator at St. Xavier’s Institutions in Eluru (1998–2000); studies for the Licentiate in Biblical Theology at the University of San Luigi in Posillipo, Naples (2000–2003); missionary and parish priest in Papua New Guinea (2003–2006); associate director of the leprosy rehabilitation center in Bombay (2006–2008); director of the leprosy rehabilitation center in Bombay (2008–2014); and, since 2014, Regional Superior of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions in India, while simultaneously serving as a member of the College of Consultors of the Diocese of Eluru.