Fr. Shijo George

Fr. Shijo George (1985) was born in Tellichery, India, and is a priest of the Vincentian Congregation, ordained on 28 December 2011 by the Late Mar (or Most Reverend) Paul Chittilapilli. He joined the Vincentian Minor Seminary in 2000 and completed his philosophical studies at De Paul Institute in Bangalore; Bachelor of Arts, Bangalore University; and Theological Studies at St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary in Mangalapuzha. Fr. Shijo holds a Masters of Arts in Christian Studies from Madras University, a Masters in Political Science (2017), and a certificate of Climate Studies from Harvard University (2020). He has held the position of Vice Rector, member of Popular Mission, and Finance Officer of the Vincentian Minor Seminaries in Kerala from 2012 to 2015. Thereafter, he was Assistant Director and Finance Officer of the Divine Prayer Centre in Mangalore; Pastor of St. Joseph Church, Aurangabad, under the Diocese of Shamshabad (2017 to 2020); Administrator of De Paul Public School in Kopargaon; and as Parish Priest of St. Thomas Church in Janakpuri in the Faridabad Diocese. His last assignment was as Associate Priest at St. Joseph the Worker Church here in Victoria. Fr. Shijo is also Pastor to the Syro-Malabar Catholics in the Diocese of Victoria. His hobbies are reading, listening to music, cooking, and trekking.

Eparchy of Mississauga

The Apostolic Exarchate for Syro-Malabar Catholics in Canada was elevated to the rank of an Eparchy with the title in Mississauga by His Holiness Pope Francis on 22 December 2018. The inauguration of the Eparchy and the installation of Mar (Bp) Jose Kalluvelil were solemnized on 25 May 2019 by His Beatitude George Cardinal Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, at St. Alphonsa Syro-Malabar Catholic Cathedral, Mississauga.

Vincentian Congregation (VC)

The Vincentian Congregation is a clerical society within the Syro-Malabar Church with its Generalate at Edappally in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, India. It comes under the category of the Societies of Common Life according to the manner of religious, and the Pontifical Right. The Congregation, founded on 20 November 1904 as a Koventha at Thottakom, India, by Fr. Varkey Kattarath with three diocesan priests, had the approval and encouragement of Mar Louis Pazheparampil, the first Vicar Apostolic of Ernakulam. The rule of the Koventha was based on the Common Rules of St. Vincent de Paul and on the model of the Congregation of the Mission founded by St. Vincent de Paul in 1625.

For more about the Syro-Malabar Church: https://syromalabarcanada.com/about-us/eparchy-of-mississauga/our-patron-saint/

For more about the Eparchy of Mississauga: https://syromalabarcanada.com/about-us/eparchy-of-mississauga/history/