Syro-Malabar Church Curia, Bishop Bosco Puthur, presided over the installation ceremony at Ernakulam St. Mary's Basilica, which was attended by several bishops, priests and large number of the faithful despite inclement weather.

Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis of Malankara Church, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the 44 bishops of the Syro-Malabar church were present.

A congratulatory message from Pope Benedict XVI was read at the function.

The post fell vacant following the death of Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayatil on April one.

This was the first time that the Synod of 44 bishops was electing the head of about the four million strong Church.

The previous Major Archbishops, Antony Padiara and Varkey Vithayathil were selected by the Vatican as at that time the Syro-Malabar Church was not an autonomous body.

The former Pope John Paul II in 1992 had raised Syro-Malabar Church to the status of the Apostolic, Indian, Catholic and Eastern (Major Archepiscopal sui iuris (Autonomous) Church of the Saint Thomas Christians