Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal SVD
Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal SVD was born on January 7, 1949 to Joseph and Aleykutty at Kalloorkad village in Kothamangalam Diocese in Ernakulam district of Kerala. He has three brothers and two sisters. After completing the schooling in his home village, he joined the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) at Changanacherry on June 15, 1964 and did the pre-degree course from St. Berchmans’s College. In July 1966, he came to the juniorate in Palda in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh. After the novitiate he took his first vow on April 27, 1969. He studied Philosophy at Pontifical Atheneum, Pune (1969-71), Maharashtra. He studied at Gujarati College Indore and obtained B.Sc. from the University of Indore (1971-74), presently known Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya. During regency. He was ordained Priest on May 11, 1979 at his home village Kalloorkad, Kerala, by Bishop George Punnakottil of Kothamangalam diocese. His first seven years (1979-87) of priestly ministry was in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh. He did further studies leading to a Masters in Communication at the University of Leicester, UK and a diploma in Printing and Publishing from the London College of Printing(1987-89). He served as Manager of Sat Prachar Press at Indore from 1989 to 2006. He was elected Provincial Superior of Society of the Divine Word, Central India Province, in Indore twice (1996-2002). He was appointed Bishop of the new diocese of Jhabua on 25 March, 2002 and ordained Bishop on June 7, 2002 at Meghnagar, by late Bishop George Anathil SVD of Indore. He was transferred to Indore Diocese following the retirement of Bishop George Anathil on 24 October, 2008 and was installed as third bishop of the diocese on December 7, 2008.