ASIA/INDIA - Bishop of Khandwa appointed

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father Benedict XVI, on May 11, 2009, appointed Fr. Arockia Sebastian Durairaj, S.V.D., Provincial Superior of the Central Indian Province, SVD, as Bishop of Khandwa (India).
Fr. Arockia Sebastian Durairaj, S.V.D. was born on May 3, 1957 in Thirunagar, in the Diocese of Madurai, in Tamilnadu. After having attended elementary school in his hometown and high school in Madurai, he entered in 1971 in the St. Charles Mission Seminary of the SVDs in Tiruchirapalli, where he also attended College Preparatory classes. He then went to the Juniorate in Palda, Indore, and the Novitiate in Khurda, in the Diocese of Indore, in 1978. He took his perpetual vows in the SVD on June 12, 1984 and was ordained a priest on May 8, 1985. Following his priestly ordination, he ministered as follows: 1985- 1987: Parish Vicar in Jhabua; 1987-1988: Procurator, S.V.D. Vidhya Bhavan (Philosophate), Bhopal; 1988-1993: Prefect of Students at the Juniorate in Palda; 1993- 1995: Studies in Counseling in the United States; 1995-1996: Spiritual Director, Khrist Premalaya Regional Philosophate, Bhopal; 1996-1999: Rector, S.V.D. Philosophate, Bhopal; 2000-2003: Studies for a Doctorate in Educational Psychology in Chicago (Illinois, USA); 2003-2004: Vice Director, Snehalaya, Spirituality Center in Indore; 2004-2005: Rector, S.V.D. Regional Philosophate, Bhopal; since 2005: Provincial Superior for the Central Indian Province, S.V.D. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 11/5/2009)