Education
Later he went on to the Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary Kottayam, where he studied philosophy and theology.
Later he went on to the Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary Kottayam, where he studied philosophy and theology.
He currently serves as the Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Palai (also known as Pala), which has the largest concentration of Syro-Malabar Catholics. After his school studies, Joseph Kallarangatt joined Good Shepherd Minor Seminary, Palai. He was ordained priest by Bishop March Joseph Pallikaparampil on 2 January 1982, at Christuraja Church Kayyoor.
After a short period of fruitful apostolate at Aruvithura and Ramapuram, French
Kallarangatt was sent to Rome for higher studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University. In 1989, he secured a doctorate in systematic theology (The title of the thesis: The Holy Spirit, bond of communion of the churches: a comparative study of the ecclesiology of Yves Congar and Nikos Nissiotis).
On his return to India, he was appointed professor of Dogmatic Theology at Saint Thomas Apostolic Seminary and at Paurastya Vidyapitham (Pontifical Oriental Institut of Religious Studies), Kottayam On 18 March 2004, while serving as the president of Paurastya Vidyapitham, French Kallarangatt was named as the third Bishop of Palai.
On 2 May 2004, he received his episcopal consecration from Archbishop March Joseph Powathil and the same day he was enthroned as Bishop of Palai by the Syro-Malabar Major-Archbishop March Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil.
Bishop Kallarangatt was a participant in the XIII Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, (Rome, 2012). In 2014, the Bishop lead his diocese to host the 31st plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. Bishop Kallarangatt is considered to be an authority in Ecclesiology and Oriental Theology.
He has authored 30 books and a good number of articles related to Ecclesiology and Eastern theological studies.
Besides Malayalam and English, Bishop Kallarangatt speaks German and Italian languages. He is scholarly competent in ancient East Syriac language.
He has in his cr more than 30 books on Theology and Oriental Liturgy and has written a large number of Systematic Theological articles He has published extensively on secular topics as well.
Currently, he is the Chairman of the Doctrinal Commission of The Catholic Bishops" Conference of India and the Chairman of the Syro-Malabar Synodal Commission for Doctrine as well as member of the Syro-Malabar Synodal Commission for Liturgy. Bishop Kallarangatt serves also as a member of the Biblical Commission of Kerala Catholic Bishops" Council.
