Bishop's Engagements

Address
Pastoral Centre,P.B.NO.22
IND-686507.Kanjirappally
Telephone +91-4828-206040,
202906,202441(R),206022(FAX)

Bishop Mar Mathew Arackal was born on December 10, 1944 at Erumely Bishop Mar Mathew Arackal had his schooling in St. Thomas High School , Erumely and later joined St. Thomas Minor Seminary, Changanacherry.After his studies there, he was sent to St. Thomas Apostolic Seminary, Vadavathoor for philosophical and theological studies. He was ordained priest on 13th March 1971 , by Mar Antony Padiyara. During 1971-1974, he served as the Assistant Vicar at Amboori Church , Director of Samaritan Hospital, Amboori and estate manager of the Archdiocese of Changanacherry. In 1974 he was appointed Assistant Procurator of the Archdiocese of Changanacherry. He is credited with establishing the first Labour Co-operative Society in Kerala.
When the Eparchy of Kanjirapally was erected in 1977, he was appointed Vicar of Peermedu and Murinjapuzha. In 1980 he started the Peermedu Development Society and served as its Founder and Executive Director till 2001. Peermade Development Society (PDS) steadily grew to become one of the most outstanding NGO-s in the country. He was also the Parish Priest at Elappara from 1991 2001. Fr. Mathew Arackal took the lead in starting Kallivayalil
Pappan Memorial Charitable Trust (KPMC Trust), to empower women and make them capable of gainful employment. His other achievements include, the establishment of High Range Medical Centre (HRMC), Sahyadri Ayurvedic Pharmaceuticals with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification, two major residential training centres for rural development with research wings and lab facilities in Bio technology and Eco-farming.
When Mar Matthew Vattakuzhy resigned, Fr. Mathew Arackal was elected Bishop of Kanjirapally. The official announcement was made on January 19, 2001 . His Episcopal Consecration took place on February 9, 2001 at St. Dominics Cathedral, Kanjirapally. On the same day, he took charge of the office. His motto is to have life and have it abundantly.
Bishop Arackal holds several key positions in prestigious institutions. Some of these are Chairman, Kerala Social Service Forum (KSSF); Chairman, KCBC Commission for Justice, Peace and development; Chairman, Jeevan Telecasting Corporation Ltd., Chairman, Rashtra Deepika Ltd; Bishop representative of Functional Vocational Training Forum (FVTF) under CBCI ; member of CBCI Commission for Scheduled Caste, Tribes and Backward classes; Advisor to the Planning Commission, Govt. of India; As a priest he was member of the Governing Body of Continuing Education cell, Kerala State; accademic council member of Kerala State, TIA for Rajeev Gandhi water mission Govt. of India; and Science and Technology, Govt. of India. Resource person of Capart, Govt. of India. Kerala State Farming Corporation; The Task Force for Participatory Planning; State Council for Education, Research and Training; Watershed Development and Management Evaluation Team. He is the only representative from Asia and Africa to the International Delegate Assembly of Naturland, Germany .