Hyderabad, India: Appointment of First Ever Dalit Cardinal
Archbishop Poola was born in Chindhukur, Andhra Pradesh, on Nov. 15, 1961. He joined the minor seminary in Kurnool and then studied at St. Peter’s Pontifical Major Seminary in Bangalore.
He was ordained a priest on Feb. 20, 1992. He was 46 years old when appointed as the bishop of Kurnool on Feb. 8, 2008.
He was appointed as the archbishop of Hyderabad by Pope Francis on Nov. 19, 2020, and was installed as its 11th archbishop on Jan. 3, 2021.
He earlier served as assistant parish priest at Amagampalli and as parish priest at Tekurpet, Correspondent RCM Elementary Schools, Chinayarasal and Kappalapalli and Our Lady of Fatima Church, Badvel.
He was also director of St. Thomas Boarding Home, Badvel, director of Vander Valk Boy’s Boarding Home and resident priest at St. Joseph’s Church, Kalamazoo Diocese, USA.
He served as chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Social Service Society from 2008-20, secretary-general and treasurer of Telugu Catholic Bishops’ Conference (TCBC) from 2014-20, chairman of the Sikh Village Campus, Secretariat for TCBC Priests Community from 2014-20 and chairman of Jeevan in-state Printing Press from 2014-20.
Source: UCANews
