Bishop Poola Anthony to be installed as 5th Archbishop of Hyd Metropolitan Archdiocese on 3 Jan
Bishop Poola Anthony will be installed as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Hyderabad on 3 January at St. Mary's High School grounds in Secunderabad. He will take over the leadership of the Catholic Church in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hyderabad as the fifth Archbishop.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 2 Jan 2021 8:42 AM GMT
Hyderabad: Bishop Poola Anthony will be installed as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Hyderabad on 3 January at St. Mary's High School grounds in Secunderabad. He will take over the leadership of the Catholic Church in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hyderabad as the fifth Archbishop.
To mark the occasion, a pontifical high mass will be celebrated by 12 Bishops from the two Telugu states. Clergy and devotees of Hyderabad will receive Bishop Poola Anthony from the outskirts of Hyderabad as he enters the city from Kurnool. The Holy Mass will begin at 4.30 p.m on Sunday at St. Mary's High school.
The outgoing Archbishop Thumma Bala will be part of the pontifical high mass to be concelebrated by Bishops from Andhra and Telangana. He will formally hand over the key of St. Joseph's Cathedral to the new Archbishop.
On 19 November, Pope Francis had appointed Bishop Poola Anthony as the Archbishop to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Hyderabad. He was transferred from Kurnool where he served for 12 years. Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of outgoing Archbishop Thumma Bala as he reached the retirement age of 75 on April 2019.
Bishop Poola Anthony was ordained a priest on 20 February 1992 and was appointed as Bishop of Kurnool in February 2008. Born in Chindhukur of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, he joined the minor seminary in Kurnool and then studied at St. Peter's Pontifical Major Seminary in Bangalore.
He has served as chairman of the Youth Commission, the Andhra Pradesh Social Service Society, SC/BC Commission, and was the secretary-general and treasurer for Telugu Catholic Bishops Conference.
Hyderabad Archdiocese is spread over Hyderabad, Rangareddy, Medchal, and other surrounding districts of Hyderabad. It also has influence over the other diocese of Adilabad, Kadapa, Khammam, Kurnool, Nalgonda, and Warangal.
The installation ceremony will be conducted while taking all COVID-19 precautionary measures. The ceremony will be live-streamed on Divya Vani TV.
