ASIA/INDIA - The Pope establishes new diocese of Miao and appoints first Bishop

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI on 7 December 2005 created the diocese of Miao (India) with territory taken from the diocese of Dibrugarh making it suffragan of the Metropolitan see of Guwahati.
The Holy Father appointed first Bishop of Miao Rev. George Palliparambil SDB, Rector of Don Bosco School in Dibrugarh.
The new diocese of Miao includes the western part of Arunachal Pradesh state and the following civil districts: Tirap, Changlang, Lohit and Dibang Valley. It will border to the north and north east on China, to the south and south east on Myanmar, to the west on the mother diocese of Dibrugarh (Assam state ) and the new diocese of Itanagar.
A church in central Miao, built and blessed in 2001, and dedicated to Christ, Light of the World, will be the cathedral.
The first Bishop George Palliparambil SDB, was born on 15 May 1954 at Thattarathatta, district and diocese of Kottayam, Kerala. He attended St. Augustine’s High School at Karimkunnam, in Kottayam diocese and then went to Shillong to study at the Salesian minor seminary Savio juniorate and later St. Anthony’s College. He entered the Salesian Novitiate at Sunny Side, Shillong in 1973. He studied philosophy at Salesian Collegedi Sonada, Darjeeling, West Bengal, and theology at Sacred Heart College, Shillong. He was ordained a priest on 20 December 1982. He has since been: rector at Bosco Bible School, Tinsukia, which he opened (1983/1994); parish priest at Bordura, Arunachal Pradesh (1994/97); director of Khonsa Literature Centre and mission coordinator in eastern Arunachal Pradesh (1997/2000); rector of Don Bosco School, Kheti (2000/2004); rector of Don Bosco School, Dibrugarh. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 7/12/2005; Righe 66; Parole 346)