Alex Kaliyanil

Born in Vallachira, Kerala, Kaliyanil joined the Divine Word Missionaries in 1987 and was ordained a priest on 7 May 1988,[1] being sent to Zimbabwe the year after. He holds a Diploma in Economics from Mysore University, India. Since 1989 he has been a missionary in Zimbabwe, in the Archdiocese of Bulawayo, where he held the following positions: 1990–1992: vicar of Holy Cross Parish in Tshabalala, 1992–1997: parish mission Embakwe, 1997–2005: parish priest of St. Joseph Tsholotsho and dean of the Southern and Northern Deanery, 2005–2008: diocesan bursar; since 2001: ex officio director of the Catholic Development Commission (Caritas Zimbabwe) from 2008: regional superior of the Society of the Divine Word in Zimbabwe.[2] He became archdiocesan treasurer in 2005, and the local superior of the Divine Word Missionaries in 2008.[2][3]

On 20 June 2009, Kaliyanil was appointed the third archbishop of Bulawayo by Pope Benedict XVI.[1] He succeeds the politically outspoken Pius Ncube, who resigned as archbishop in September 2007 amid accusations of adultery.[4]