Archbishop of Tiruvalla (Syro-Malankara)
Archbishop Thomas Mar Koorilos Chakkalapadickal was born in Kaddapra Mannar, Eparchy of Tiruvalla, on 19 October 1958. He completed philosophical and theological studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Poona and was ordained a priest there for the Eparchy of Tiruvalla on 30 December 1985. After ordination, he held the following offices: assistant pastor and then pastor of the parishes of Vandarnnedu and Kumily; secretary to the bishop; chaplain for the Syro-Malankara faithful in Delhi; subsequently he studied in Rome, obtaining in 1995 a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute. On 9 May 1997 he was appointed auxiliary of the Bishop of Tiruvalla with the title of Tigisi of Mauritania, receiving episcopal consecration on 17 July 1997.