New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS): Wayanad MP and AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday congratulated 51-year-old Catholic priest George Jacob Koovakad on being elevated to the esteemed position of Cardinal by His Holiness Pope Francis on Saturday.

“A proud moment for India, and recognition of your tireless devotion to the Church and humanity,” said Priyanka on her social media.

Koovakad who belongs to Syro Malabar Catholic Church and hails from Changnacherry in Kottayam district. He wrote into record books by becoming the first priest from Kerala to be directly elevated to a Cardinal.

The other five Cardinals in Kerala were bishops before being elevated to this exalted post in the Catholic Church.

In the global Catholic Church from Saturday, the number of Cardinals has reached 253 after Koovakad and 20 others were elevated.

On Saturday and Sunday across the Catholic Churches in Kerala, his elevation was celebrated in a modest way, especially at his home parish in Changnacherry.

It is this group of Cardinals who will be sitting together to elect the next Pope, whenever that time comes.

Born on August 11, 1973, in the state capital city, Koovakad became a priest and later pursued training for diplomatic service at the prestigious Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

In 2006, he began his diplomatic career at the Apostolic Nunciature in Algeria. He has served in Apostolic Nunciatures in Algeria, South Korea, Iran, Costa Rica, and Venezuela.

Christians in Kerala make up around 18 per cent of the state's 32 million population, of which Catholics are the dominant group, comprising 50 per cent of the Christians in the state.

There are three Catholic rites in Kerala the Syro-Malabar, Latin, and the Syro Malankara Churches.

Supreme head of the Syro Malankara Church Mar Baselios Cleemis was the last Keralaite to be elevated as a Cardinal in 2013.