Fr. Prabhakar Kalivela (Fr. K)

I am Fr. Prabhakar Kalivela. I am very happy to be here at Christ the King as parochial vicar. I look forward to serving the parish along with Fr. Rex Arnold and I am very grateful for the gracious welcome we've received.

I was born in a remote village in the South-Eastern part of India. I am from a family of ten children: four boys and 6 girls. I am the ninth child in the family. All my brothers and sisters are married and I have 23 nephews and nieces. I went to a Catholic School until the 5th grade, after which I was invited by my pastor to enter the seminary in the 6th grade. This was a great honor to be chosen to be sent to the seminary!

I was ordained on April 24, 1997 for his home diocese of Nellore in India. The diocese of Nellore has been providing priests to serve in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City since 1993. That is the reason why Fr. Balaswamy Nagineni, who served this parish as associate pastor in 2003 and 2004, was here and now I am too. I came to serve in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City for the first time in June 2007 and returned to India in June of 2011. I came back to Oklahoma a second time in June of 2017 at which time I was assigned to St. John Nepomuk Yukon with Father Rex for one year. I was then reassigned to Epiphany of Our Lord Church from 2018-2021.

My favorite saint is St. Teresa of Lisieux because of her simplicity and practical approach to the spiritual life. Some of the things that I enjoy are salmon, vegetables, cookies, and coffee - and also cooking! I would love to one day visit the Holy Land. Thank you to Fr. Rex and to everyone in the parish for your kind cooperation with me in my ministry here. I am excited to work with the CK community and look forward to meeting new people. Fr. Kalivela's patron saint is St. Thérèse of Lisieux.