KOTTAYAM: The episcopal ordination of Msgr Kurian Mathew Vayalumkal, the diplomatic representative of Vatican (Apostolic Nuncio) to Papua New Guinea, who has been appointed as the titular Archbishop of Ratairia, was held at Christ the King Cathedral here on Monday.
Archbishop Mar Mathew Moolekkatt, head of the Knanaya Archeparchy of Kottayam, led the consecration proceedings at the Cathedral.
Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, former Apostolic Nuncio to Egypt and CBCI secretary general Theodore Mascarenhas, assisted the Archbishop. Auxiliary Bishop of Kottayam Archdiocese Mar Joseph Pandarasseril welcomed the gathering.
Following this, Monsignor Mauro Lalli read the Apostolic order appointing Vayalunkal as the titular Archbishop. CBCI president and Syro-Malankara Church Major Archbishop Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Syro-Malabar Church Major Archbishop Cardinal Mar George Alancherry, Kerala Latin Catholic Bishops Council president and Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop Maria Callist Soosa Pakiam, MLAs Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Mons Joseph, among others, participated in the ceremony. Monsignor Vayalumkal, a member of Kottayam Knanaya Archeparchy, has been with the Diplomatic Corps of Vatican since 1998. He was appointed Apostilic Nuncio of Papua New Guinea on May 3. Son of M C Mathai and Annamma Mathai of Vayalumkal House, Neendoor, Vayalumkal has worked in Hungary, Korea, Dominican Republic, Egypt and Bangladesh in his diplomatic capacity.
He was deputed to Haiti after a massive earthquake to oversee the humanitarian work taken up by the Vatican.