Pope John Paul II created the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kannur in the Ecclesiastical Province of Verapoly in India by bifurcating the Diocese of Calicut on 9 December 1998. The new Diocese consists of the Latin Catholics of Malabar residing in the revenue districts of Kannur and Kasaragod. The see was vacant from 2012 until 2014. On 1 February 2014, Pope Francis appointed Alex Joseph Vadakumthala as the new bishop of Kannur. He was consecrated on 23 March.