Cardinal Koovakad named at the head of the dicastery for interreligious dialogue

Already created Cardinal by Pope Francis on December 7, 2024, at only 51, Mgr George Jacob Koovakad was appointed, Friday, January 24, prefect of the Dicastery for interreligious dialogue. The Indian bishop already played an important role in the curia since 2021 in the organization of international trips of the Pope.

He succeeded the Spanish cardinal Miguel ángel Ayuso Guixot, died November 25, 2024. “ The context of the dicastery for interreligious dialogue is completely new for mehe told Vatican News, But I believe that the experience that I have had so far, and that I will continue to have in the organization of travel, has been and will be useful to me. »»

“” I was born and I was raised in a multicultural and multi -religious society, where all religions are respected and ensure harmony. The difference is a wealth “Continues the bishop from the Syro-Malabar diocese of Changanacherry, in Kerala (India).

A man experienced in Vatican diplomacy

Ordained a priest in 2004, he joined the Diplomatic Service of the Vatican in 2006, after being trained in the ecclesiastical pontifical academy. He served in the apostolic nunciatures of Algeria, South Korea, Iran, Costa Rica and Venezuela, before joining, in 2020, the Secretary of State of the Vatican.

“”The trips of the Holy Fatherhe continues, Almost always have interreligious implications, meetings with representatives of other religions, moments of lived fraternity. Cardinal Koovakad notably accompanied Pope Francis, in September 2024, during his trip to Asia and Oceania, during which the Pope blessed the ” Friendship Tunnel »» which connects the great mosque to the cathedral of Jakarta, in Indonesia.

He also prepared, in December 2023, François’s visit to Dubai on the occasion of COP28 on climate change, which the Pope had to cancel for health reasons. “” I would also like to mention the wonderful experience that I had a few months earlier in Mongolia, where only 1.3 % of the population is Christian. Without forgetting apostolic trips to Kazakhstan and Bahrain “, He reminds Vatican News.

“Christians are called upon to be seeds of fraternity for all”

This dicastery (equivalent to a ministry, editor’s note), of which Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline is a member, promotes dialogue with all religions (with the exception of Judaism which is dicastery for the promotion of Christian unity) . He notably plays a central role in relations with Muslims. Cardinal Guixot, his predecessor, had worked in the signing, in February 2019, of a document on human fraternity in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, prestigious institution of Sunni Islam.

The French cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, a high figure of Vatican diplomacy, had held the position of prefect, between 2007 and 2018, to bring serenity with the Muslim world, after the violent turmoil caused by the “Speech by Ratisbon” pronounced by Benoît XVI in 2006.

“Christians are called upon to be seeds of fraternity for all, Underlines Cardinal Koovakad, in a message that seems to draw his roadmap. This does not mean giving up your own identity, but rather being aware that identity is not and should never be a reason to erect walls or discriminate the others, and that it is always an opportunity to build bridges . Interreligious dialogue is not simply a dialogue between religions, but between believers called to testify in the world of beauty of faith in God, the practice of fraternal charity and respect. »»