Pope Francis appoints Cardinal Koovakad

Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue

The Cardinal succeeds Cardinal Ayuso Guixot, who died last November. He will also continue to serve as coordinator of papal travels

Vatican News

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal George Jacob Koovakad as the new prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. He succeeds Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, who died in November last year. The cardinal also retains the position of coordinator of apostolic trips at the Secretariat of State.

Cardinal Koovakad was born in Chethipuzha, India, on 11 August 1973. Ordained a priest on 24 July 2004, he was incardinated in Changanacherry. With a degree in Canon Law, he entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 2006 and was posted to the Apostolic Nunciature in Algeria as secretary. He then served from 2009 in the Apostolic Nunciature in Korea, from 2012 in the Nunciature in Iran, from 2015 in the Nunciature in Costa Rica as an advisor and from 2018 in the Nunciature in Venezuela. Since 2020, he has worked in the Secretariat of State, in the General Affairs section.

In 2021, Pope Francis entrusted him with the organisation of apostolic journeys. On 25 October 2024, he was appointed titular archbishop of Nisibi of the Chaldeans, receiving episcopal ordination the following 24 November in Changanacherry from the Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, Raphael Thattil. He was created cardinal in the Consistory of 7 December 2024, of the Diaconia of St. Anthony of Padua in Circonvallazione Appia.