Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue

Leadership

About George Jacob Koovakad

George Jacob Koovakad was born on 11 August 1973 in Chethipuzha, in the municipality of Changanacherry, Kottayam district, Kerala, India. He earned bachelor's degrees in chemistry from St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry (1994), and studied at St. Thomas Minor Seminary, Kurichy, and St. Joseph Pontifical Seminary, Aluva, obtaining a licentiate in 2004. He was ordained a priest of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparchy of Changanacherry on 24 July 2004 by Archbishop Joseph Powathil. Moving to Rome, he earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in 2006, completing the preparatory program at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and joining the Holy See's diplomatic service that same year. He served in the nunciatures in Algeria, South Korea (2009–2012), Iran (2012–2014), Costa Rica (2014–2018), and Venezuela (2018–2020). In July 2020 he joined the Secretariat of State in Rome, and from 2021 organized numerous papal travels including visits to Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and a lengthy trip through Southeast Asia. Pope Francis announced his elevation to the College of Cardinals on 6 October 2024; Koovakad was appointed titular Archbishop of Nisibis of the Chaldeans on 25 October 2024, received episcopal consecration on 24 November 2024 in Changanassery Cathedral, and was created a Cardinal-Deacon on 7 December 2024—the first cardinal elevated directly from the Syro-Malabar Church in this manner. Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue on 24 January 2025, making him the third Indian to head a Curial department. As the junior cardinal deacon, he served key administrative functions in the 2025 papal conclave.

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Promotes and regulates relations with members and groups of religions other than Christianity (except Judaism, which falls under the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity).

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