Rev. Poola Anthony to take over as new Archbishop of Hyderabad

Bishop Anthony will be received from the outskirts as he enters the city from Kurnool and the Holy Mass will begin at 4.30 pm at St Mary's High School Grounds.

Hyderabad: The installation ceremony of Rev. Poola Anthony as Metropolitan Archbishop of Hyderabad will be conducted at St Mary’s High School Grounds in Secunderabad on Sunday. On the occasion, a Pontifical High Mass will be celebrated by 12 bishops from the two Telugu States.

Bishop Anthony will be received from the outskirts as he enters the city from Kurnool and the Holy Mass will begin at 4.30 pm at St Mary’s High School Grounds. Outgoing Archbishop Thumma Bala will be part of the Pontifical High Mass to be concelebrated by Bishops from Andhra and Telangana. The installation ceremony, which will be conducted taking all Covid-19 precautionary measures, will see Rev. Bala formally handing over the key of St. Joseph’s Cathedral to the new Archbishop. Rev. Anthony will be the fifth Archbishop as a successor of First Archbishop Mark Gopu, Second Archbishop Samineni Arulappa, third Archbishop Marampudi Joji and the fourth Archbishop Thumma Bala.

Pope Francis had on November 19 appointed Bishop Anthony as Archbishop after accepting Archbishop Bala’s resignation, as he reached the retirement age of 75 in April 2019. Bishop Anthony was ordained a priest on February 20 1992 and was appointed Bishop of Kurnool in February 2008.

He was born in Chindhukur of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh and joined the minor seminary in Kurnool and then studied at St. Peter’s Pontifical Major Seminary, Bengaluru. He has served as chairman of Youth Commission, Andhra Pradesh Social Service Society, SC/BC Commission, secretary-general and treasurer for Telugu Catholic Bishops Conference.

The installation ceremony will be live-streamed on Divya Vani TV, a Telugu Catholic satellite channel.

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