1. George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the position from 2011 to 2023.
29 Facts About George Alencherry
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George Alencherry was elected by the Holy Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church in 2011 to succeed Varkey Vithayathil.
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George Alencherry was created a cardinal on 18 February 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
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George Alencherry was the first bishop of Thuckalay from 1997 to 2011 before his enthronement as the major archbishop.
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George Alencherry was born on 19 April 1945, the sixth of ten children born to Mary and Philipose Alencherry, in Thuruthy.
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George Alencherry completed his philosophy and theology studies at St Joseph's Pontifical Seminary in Aluva.
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George Alencherry continued his studies at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy, earning a master's degree in the first rank.
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George Alencherry then studied in Paris at Sorbonne University and the Catholic Institute, where he obtained a doctorate in biblical theology.
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The establishment of the diocese and George Alencherry's appointment were promulgated on 18 December 1996.
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George Alencherry was consecrated a bishop on 2 February 1997 by Joseph Powathil, Metropolitan Archbishop of Changanassery, with Mathew Vattackuzhy, Bishop of Kanjirappally, and Lawrence Aprem, Bishop of Marthandam, as co-consecrators.
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George Alencherry was installed as bishop on the same day by Varkey Vithayathil, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church.
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In May 2011, the bishops' synod of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church elected George Alencherry to succeed Varkey Vithayathil as Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly and head of the Syro-Malabar Church.
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George Alencherry declared his service would be for all the people of India, stressing ecumenical relations among Christians and harmony with other religions.
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George Alencherry's visit to Rome for that consistory coincided with the arrest of Italian merchant marine officers on board the Enrica Lexie who shot and killed two Kerala fishermen on a fishing vessel.
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George Alencherry had previously been quoted accusing some Kerala politicians of exploiting the incident for their own purposes and seemed to suggest he was actively seeking to resolve the dispute.
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On 24 April 2012, George Alencherry was made a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and of the Congregation for the Oriental Catholic Churches.
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George Alencherry participated as a cardinal-elector in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.
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An internal investigation by the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly determined it had suffered large losses on speculative real estate deals made by George Alencherry without adhering to procedural safeguards.
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In December 2019 George Alencherry was elected head of the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council, a state-wide organization of Catholic bishops.
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In December 2019 George Alencherry called upon the Union government to reconsider the Citizenship Act, 2019, saying the act lacked clarity in many areas.
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George Alencherry received a pamphlet distributed by the Bharatiya Janata Party supporting the CAA in January 2020.
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George Alencherry announced his resignation as the major archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church on 7 December 2023.
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In 2011, George Alencherry called for the erection of "a territorial jurisdiction covering the whole territory of India" so the Syro-Malabar Church could serve its growing communities in India's largest cities.
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George Alencherry called it "one of our appeals to the Holy Father" and presented an argument based on colonialist usurpation of ancient rights.
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Meanwhile, George Alencherry was successful in persuading the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church to legislate on rubrical uniformity and in bringing more dioceses into the implementation of the decision made in 1999.
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Later that month, a group of 90 priests out of 400 staged a street demonstration calling on George Alencherry to stand aside, pending resolution of the legal procedure, while more than 200 lay Catholics responded with a demonstration in support of George Alencherry.
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George Alencherry returned to the helm of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese on 27 June 2019, after the Vatican terminated the appointment of apostolic administrator.
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Laity activists sought civil and legal action on the matter and action against George Alencherry who was the diocese head.
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The Kerala High Court ruled in August 2021 that George Alencherry must stand trial in the case.