Bishop of Kochi Joseph Kariyil has stepped down after Pope Francis accepted his request to retire. Senior priest Shaiju Pariyathuchery has been appointed as administrator of the diocese till a bishop is appointed. The decision to step down was announced by Bishop Kariyil at a meeting of priests on Saturday at the bishop’s house in Fort Kochi.
Bishop Kariyil is the fourth bishop from the community of local priests in the diocese of Kochi and the 35th bishop of the diocese, a Latin Church ecclesiastical administrative unit. The diocese was established in 1557, and is the second Roman Catholic diocese in India after Goa. Bishop Kariyil headed the Punalur diocese before taking charge of the Kochi diocese in July 2009. He succeeded John Thattungal.
Bishop Kariyil holds a doctoral degree in moral theology and was ordained a priest in December 1973. He hails from Arthunkal, a coastal village in Alappuzha district. He was also the director of Pastoral Orientation Centre in Kochi between 1992 and 2000. He was the vicar general of the diocese of Kochi between 2000 and 2005.
