Bangalore: His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed His Excellency Most Rev. Alangaram Arokia Sebastian Durairaj (64), S.V.D., until now Bishop of Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh as the new Archbishop of Bhopal. This provision was made public in Rome on Monday, 4 October, 2021.
Bishop Alangaram Arokia Sebastian Durairaj, SVD, was born on 3 May 1957, at Thirunagar in the Archdiocese of Madurai in Tamilnadu. After attending elementary school in the hometown and in Madurai, he joined St. Charles Seminary in Tiruchirapalli for the Society of the Divine Word in 1971. He completed his pre-university course while he was in St. Charles Seminary. He made his final profession in the Society of the Divine Word on 12 July1984.
He was ordained priest on 8 May 1985, at Thirunagar, Madurai. Thereafter, he served at Meghanagar (Jhabua) and was co-pastor at Jhabua (1985-1987). He also served as the procurator of SVD Vidhya Bhavan, Bhopal (1987-1988) In 2005, he was elected provincial superior of SVD central Indian province and was re-elected in 2008. He has been appointed bishop of Khandwa diocese by Pope Benedict XVI on 11 May, 2009, and was ordained on 16 July 2009. He is a priest for 36 years and a bishop for 12 years.