Meet Germany’s first non-European bishop

Fr. Joshy Pottackal will make history this month, when he becomes Germany’s first non-European Catholic bishop.

The new auxiliary bishop of Mainz was born more than 4,000 miles away from Germany, in the southern Indian state of Kerala.

The 48-year-old Carmelite priest’s appointment highlights the rising number of Catholics in Germany born in other countries. In 2024, 16.7% of Catholics held foreign citizenship. In the Mainz diocese, the proportion was 26.6%.

A significant Indian Catholic community began to form in the 1960s and 1970s as Germany turned to Kerala to help address a shortage of health care workers. In recent decades, a growing number of Indian priests have filled vacancies left by a decline in local clergy.

Fr. Joshy, as he is affectionately known in the Mainz diocese, was born on April 30, 1977, in Meenkunnam, a village known for its waterfalls, paddy fields — and a giant replica of Michelangelo’s Pietà. He was the second of three sons. One brother is a school teacher in Kerala. The other also joined the Carmelites and is a pastor in Canada.

The Carmelite order in Kerala is closely associated with Germany. It was the order’s Upper German province that decided in 1973 to establish the first O. Carm. foundation in India. Carmel Nivas, the order’s first Indian house, was erected canonically in 1982. The Carmelite Province of St. Thomas was established in India in 2007.

According to a biography compiled by the province, Fr. Joshy joined the Carmel Nivas Minor Seminary in 1992. He entered the novitiate in 1995, the year that his mother died in an accident. The following year, when he made his first profession, his father also died following a long illness. His aunt stepped in to support the three brothers.

Fr. Joshy dreamt of being a missionary in northern India or Africa. But following his priestly ordination in 2003, he was sent to Germany. He arrived in Mainz having completed a German beginner’s course in India. He initially served in the city as a youth chaplain, while continuing to develop his proficiency in the language.

In 2016, he was named regional superior for members of the Province of St. Thomas in Germany. In 2022, he was appointed vicar for clergy, becoming responsible for the welfare of the Mainz diocese’s priests.

When he is ordained a bishop at Mainz