The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Augustine Madathikunnel, until now administrator of the diocese of Khandwa, India, as bishop of the same diocese.
Msgr. Augustine Madathikunnel was born on 9 July 1963 in Koolivaya, Kerala, in the diocese of Mananthavady. He studied philosophy and theology at Saint Charles Seminary in Nagpur and was ordained a priest on 18 April 1994 for the diocese of Khandwa.
After ordination, he first held the offices of deputy parish priest in Sirpur (1994-1996), secretary to the bishop and teacher at Saint Thomas School (1996-1997). He was awarded a licentiate in moral theology from the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy of Rome (1997-1999) and went on to serve as secretary to the bishop (1999-2000), rector of the Saint Pius Seminary and administrator of the Saint Pius School (2000-2010), secretary to the bishop and diocesan bursar (2010-2018), parish priest of Saint Anne (2018-2021) and diocesan administrator of Khandwa (since 2021)
