Arulselvam Rayappan is the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Salem The Diocese of Salem ( la, Salemen(sis)) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Catholic Church in India. Its episcopal see is Salem. The Diocese of Salem is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropoli ...

Early life and education

Arulselvam was born on 18 November 1960 in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

, India. He received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy from

Arul Anandar College, Karumathur Arul Anandar College (AAC) is an arts and sciences autonomous college affiliated to Madurai Kamaraj University, situated at Karumathur, Madurai, and administered by the Jesuits. The College name, meaning "filled with grace", refers to John de Bri ...

. He has acquired a master's degree in canon law from St. Peter's Pontifical Seminary. He also obtained Doctorate in Canon Law with Summa Cum Laude from the Pontifical Urban University Rome.

Priesthood

On 20 May 1986, Arul received his priestly ordination.

Episcopate

Rayappan was appointed bishop of the

on 31 May 2021 by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

. He was consecrated as a Bishop on 4 August 2021 and took possession of the Diocese of Salem on the same day. He was consecrated as a bishop by Archbishop Antony Pappusamy of Madurai who served as the Principal Consecrator and Bishop Emeritus Sebastianappan Singaroyan of Salem and Bishop Lawrence Pius of Dharmapuri served as Co-Consecrators.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayappan, Arulselvam 1960 births Bishops appointed by Pope Francis Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in India Pontifical Urban University alumni