Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis has been named the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI).The third head of the Malankara Church appointed to the position and was selected by the CBCI plenary meeting at Pala.
The cardinal, also Major Archbishop of the Malankara Church, is currently President of KCBC and Vice President of CBCI.
He takes over from current Cardinal Oswald Gracious, who has completed four years, or two terms, which is the maximum allowed to a person.
The national conference of the Catholic bishops in India selects its leader with a tacit understanding of giving representation to all three rites of the Indian Church-the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara.
Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, was CBCI president until 2010, when the Laitn rite Cardinal Gracias was elected to the post.