Vatican elevates Calicut as Archdiocese; Dr Varghese Chakkalakal declared Archbishop

KOZHIKODE: In a major announcement, the Vatican elevated Calicut diocese to an archdiocese on Saturday. This is the first Latin archdiocese in the Malabar region. Dr Varghese Chakkalakal has been elevated as Archbishop of Calicut. Sultanpet and Kannur dioceses will come under the Kozhikode Archdiocese.

The important announcement was made concurrently in the Vatican and Kozhikode. Syro-Malabar catholic church archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany read out Pope Francis' announcement. With this, Kozhikode became the third archdiocese of the Latin Church in Kerala. The other archdioceses are in Thiruvananthapuram and Varappuzha. Dr. Varghese Chakkalakkal became the president of the diocese in 2012.