We welcome Fr. Babychan Arackathara as parochial vicar at Holy Cross, St. John’s and Immaculate Heart of Mary. He is the youngest of five children and was born in a tiny island in the backwaters of Kerala, South Africa. After completing his primary and secondary education he felt the call to become a Catholic priest. He was ordained on January 8, 1997 as a Missionary of St. Francis de Sales. His first assignment after ordination was to be part of the pioneering team to work in the Southern African region. He spent almost two years learning the languageand offering pastoral assistance in the Diocese of Keetmanshoop. In 1999 he was transferred to South Africa where his passion for the Prison Ministry intensified, offering his spiritual services to more prisons. In 2003 he was elected as the Southern African representative of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care at the world confernece of the organization.  In 2012 he was elected as the regional superior of the Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales to co-ordinate the work of the Missionaries in South Africa. We are very pleased that he is with us at Holy Cross Parish.