london an indiaborn priest has been ordained as a bishop in the church of england at a ceremony held at st pauls cathedral in london on tuesdayaged 43 saju is now the youngest bishop in the church of england but not the first of indianorigin as the current bishop of bradwell bishop john perumbalath was also born in keralathe rt revd malayil lukose varghese muthalaly known as saju hitherto vicar of st marks gillingham kent was born in kerala and grew up in a leprosy hospital in bengaluru he was consecrated by archbishop of canterbury justin welby as the next bishop of loughborough in the diocese of leicesterfamily friends colleagues and supporters hailing from india dubai and britain gathered at the service where two others were ordained as bishops and two of sajus children zipp and abraham said prayerswelby congratulated saju in hindi on twitter afterwards in english he tweeted a wonderful exciting beautiful day for the churchofengland a diverse global church brought together in the joy of jesus christhis parents live in kollam kerala our father said god has given him an opportunity to serve beyond boundaries and he should use it well our parents aged 90 and 83 missed the chance to witness the ceremony due to the pandemic said his brother siji malayil a lawyer in the karnataka high courtas suffragan bishop saju will share oversight of the diocese with the bishop of leicester the rt revd martyn snow snow said leicester can be rightly proud of our track record of gifting to the wider church bishops who represent different ethnic groups and will help the church to reflect the fullness of life in christsaju who now carries a bishops staff made of indian rosewood will be officially installed as bishop of loughborough at a service at brockington church of england academy in enderby leicestershire on february 5 the event will be livestreamed on youtubehe was born on the kerala backwaters to a syrian orthodox church family who trace their spiritual and cultural lineage back to st thomas the apostle he said his priorities are peoplefocused and helping the poor and marginalised flourishhe said i spent much of my childhood in a leprosy hospital in bengaluru where my mother was a nurse serving some of the most ostracised and rejected groups in the world from my earliest memory my heart has bent towards those who live in poverty poor people arent just poor people they are mothers artists gifted leaders friends people who are passionate about the environmenthe will have oversight for intercultural communities and racial equity strategy as well as priest vocationsmuthalaly moved to loughborough just before christmas with his wife katy who he met on a gap year in england and their four children i am never more at home than when i am with katy our children and our eclectic collection of pets he said i am also joyfully at home when i am playing the beautiful game of