Pope's point man on travel inspired by the boss's love for the poor

(OSV News) — For Monsignor George Jacob Koovakad, of the Archdiocese of Changanacherry in Kerala, India, the pope’s “deep concern for the poor and the marginalized has always touched me.”

The scheduler of Pope Francis’ apostolic visits around the world, Monsignor Koovakad, who belongs to the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (an Eastern-rite church in full communion with Rome), said he was surprised when the pope named him cardinal designate among 21 others who will be elevated at the Dec. 7 consistory.

“Whenever he visits different places, it is not the crowd that captures his attention, but the weak and the vulnerable,” explained Cardinal-designate Koovakad in an email interview with OSV News. “A poor person in a wheelchair or a stranded child are the ones who draw his gaze. And in some way, the eyes of the Holy Father, accustomed to seeing the poor and the weak, found me too!”

Cardinal-designate Koovakad received a sacred theology doctorate in canon law in 2006 from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and went into diplomatic service for the Vatican that same year. The canon lawyer received secretarial assignments for nunciatures in seven countries including Algeria, South Korea and Venezuela, until he was placed in the Secretariat of State of the Holy See in 2020 and then became coordinator of apostolic journeys starting in 2021.

According to his classmate, Father Joseph Parackal, the cardinal-designate’s mentor — the late Archbishop Joseph Powathil of Changanacherry — encouraged him to enter diplomatic service.

“The archbishop’s love for the church and his integrity left a lasting impression on Msgr. Koovakad,” wrote Father Parackal in an email to OSV News.

Cardinal-designate Koovakad, 51, is the second youngest of the new cardinals the pope will create. “Naturally this new ministry of serving the Holy Father more closely will bring additional responsibilities but I trust in the Lord who has called me to this ministry,” he said. “I believe I can do all things in him who strengthens me even in my weakness. In the church, the ministry matters more than the individual. My role is to serve the successor of Peter.”

And in his service as a new cardinal, the diplomat said, the Syro-Malabar Church should also rise to its call “to renew its commitment to love the universal church and to be faithful always to the successor of Peter.”

Cardinal-designate Koovakad said that he listens closely to the Holy Father as he said of the newly designated cardinals that their origins “expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God’s merciful love to all people on earth. Their inclusion in the Diocese of Rome also manifests the inseparable bond between the See of Peter and the particular Churches spread throughout the world.”

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church is the largest of the Eastern churches founded by St. Thomas the Apostle in India from A.D. 42 to A.D. 72 starting about 10 years after the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ when the fledgling Catholic Church spread beyond the Middle East.

Father Parackal described his classmate, the eldest of three children, as “jovial with a sense of humor,” excelling at cricket in college, and who is “also a deeply spiritual man.”

“‘To spread the fragrance of Christ’s love’ is my chosen motto,” said Cardinal-designate Koovakad in describing his ministry. “Everything we do should flow from Jesus. We are called to spread the fragrance of the Good Shepherd, who knows each of his sheep by name. In him, fully human and fully divine, we are united with God. He carries the scent of both divinity and humanity. Our mission is to ensure that our lives, both in the church and in the world, bear the sweet aroma of his presence.”

“The challenge is making Jesus present through our words and deeds, even amidst our human weaknesses. Christ’s love compels us to step out of our comfort zones and give ourselves in service to others, even at the risk of our own safety,” he said.