ASIA/INDIA - Appointment of bishop of Salem, His Exc. Mgr. Arulselvam Rayappan

Monday, 31 May 2021

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father has appointed as bishop of the diocese of Salem, India, the Reverend Arulselvam Rayappan, of the clergy of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, until now director of the Centre for Canon Law Studies at Saint Peter's Pontifical Institute/Seminary in Bangalore and judge of the Tribunal of the metropolitan archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore.
Msgr. Arulselvam Rayappan was born on 18 November 1960 at Sathipattu in the metropolitan archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. He was a student at Saint Agnes Minor Seminary in Cuddalore (1974-1978). He studied philosophy at Christ Hall Seminary in Madurai (1978-1981) and theology at Saint Peter's Pontifical Institute/Seminary in Bangalore (1982-1986).
He was ordained a priest on 20 May 1986 and incardinated in the metropolitan archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. He holds a master's degree in canon law from Saint Peter's Pontifical Institute/Seminary (1990-1992) and a doctorate from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome (1992-1994).
Since priestly ordination he has held the following positions: vice-rector of the minor seminary in Cuddalore (1986-1988); parish vicar in Viriyur and Karaikal (1988-1989); and parish priest in Kurumbagaram (1989-1990). At Saint Peter's Pontifical Institute/Seminary in Bangalore he was: lecturer from 1994, director of the Centre for Canon Law Studies from 1996 to 2001, vice-rector from 2000 to 2006 and president from 2010 to 2017. He also served as: secretary of the Commission for Canon Law and Legislative Texts of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (2010-2018); president of the Canon Law Society of Tamil Nadu, and general secretary and president of the Canon Law Society of India (2013-2017). From 2017 to date he has again been the director of the Centre for Canon Law Studies at Saint Peter's Pontifical Institute/Seminary in Bangalore and a judge of the Tribunal of the metropolitan archdiocese of Pondicherry and Cuddalore. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 31/5/2021)


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