Pope Francis on Feb. 24 appointed Fr Jose Chirackal as the auxiliary bishop of Tura, a diocese in the northeastern Indian State of Meghalaya. The announcement was made at noon in Rome and its corresponding time (4:30 pm) in India. The bishop-elect was born on July 14, 1960 at Ayiroor near Karukutty in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. He was ordained a priest for Tura on December 29, 1987.