Father George Biju VC
Father George Biju is a priest of the Vincentian Congregation (VC) from India. He was born on March 12, 1980
in Ayyampuzha, Kerala, India in a devouted Christian family. His father Antony is a farmer and his mother Annie
a house-wife. Fr. George Biju is the first-born and he has two brothers, both having families. From his childhood he had a desire to become a priest. It was his grandmother who first motivated him to the priesthood. She was
a great devotee of mother Mary. His aunt - a sister of his father - who is a Franciscan Clarist nun also influenced him in this direction. Moreover, as he used to serve as an altar boy, the closeness to the parish priests and to the religious nuns from his village parish - Kannimangalam in the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly - encouraged him to become a priest. The spiritual renewal in the life of his father, which he experienced through attending retreats lead by the Vincentian fathers, turned his family into a God-fearing and prayerful family.
Initially Fr. George Biju had intended to become a diocesan priest but the providence of the Lord brought him
to the Vincentian Congregation. He joined the Vincentian Seminary in 1997 together with Fr. Anthony Saji
and they shared studies for nine out of ten formation years. In the fifth year of their seminary formation Fr. Anthony Saji and Fr. George Biju were selected for the African mission, which made them even closer friends. As they were waiting to travel to Africa, Fr. Bill visited them in the seminary in Bangalore and encouraged them for missions. He even gladly recalls the encouragement and support received from Fr. Bill in his early years of mission life both as a seminarian and as a young priest. He was also privileged to meet Fr. Bill just one week prior to his death in 2008 when Fr. bill visited Uvinza mission in Tanzania where he was then the curate. He always admired the great mission of preaching carried out by Fr. Bill and his successor, Fr. Anthony Saji. He says that he often prayed for them and all the people involved in the ministry. At the same time he confesses that he had never imagined finding himself in such a mission.
Some Facts from the Life of Fr. George Biju VC
Minor Seminary: Christu Nivas Vincentian Minor Seminary, Kochi, India
Novitiate: Vincentian Novitiate, Wayanad, India
First profession: May 22, 1999
Philosophy: De Paul Institute of Religion and Philosophy, Bangalore, India
Regency: Vincentian House, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Theology: Blessed Bakanja Collage, Nairobi, Kenya
Biblical studies: Tangaza College, Nairobi, Kenya
Final profession: July 3, 2004
Priestly ordination: April 19, 2007
Assistant parish priest: St. Francis Xavier’s Parish, Uvinza, Diocese of Kigoma, Tanzania, June 2007 – Dec 2008
Finance officer: Vincentian House, Uvinza, Tanzania, June 2007 – June 2010
Parish priest: St. Francis Xavier’s Parish, Uvinza, Diocese of Kigoma, Tanzania, Jan 2009 – June 2012
Licentiate in moral theol.: Academia Alfonsiana, Rome, Italy
Finance officer: Vincentian House, Rome, Italy (July 2012 – June 2013)
Superior: Vincentian House, Rome, Italy (July 2013 – June 2014)
Associate priest: Vincentian Prayer House, Nairobi, Kenya since September 2014
Associate priest: Vincentian Retreat Centre, Thika, Kenya since May 2015
Regional councillor (vicar) for the Sacred Heart Region, East Africa since May 2016