Voting Commences for New Head of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala

The process to select the new supreme head of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala has begun, with 53 Bishops participating in the electoral colleges. According to Vatican rules, candidates do not file nominations; instead, each Bishop can submit a secret ballot with the name of any of the 53 Bishops or even a Catholic priest.

The winner will be determined by securing two-thirds of the votes. If no candidate achieves this in the first five rounds, additional rounds will be held, and the one with the maximum votes in the last two rounds will be declared the next Major Archbishop. This election follows the decision of incumbent Cardinal George Alencherry to step down, a request accepted by the Pope. Catholics constitute 50% of Christians in Kerala, making up 18% of the state’s population.