English: The Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Rev. Fr. Linus Neli as the Archbishop of Imphal on 7 October 2023. Earlier, the Resignation of His Excellency Most Rev. Dominic Lumon, Archbishop of Imphal was accepted by His Holiness Pope Francis.

Rev. Fr. Linus Neli was born on 26 April 1958 in St. Mary's Church, Punanamei. He completed schooling at Dibrugarh and obtained College degree from Shillong. He holds Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University Urbaniana, Rome, and obtained Diploma in Jurisprudence at Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland (CLSGB & I), London and a Master's degree in Human rights at Pondicherry University.

He was ordained priest on 20 December 1984. Soon after his ordination he held various posts in different capacity as; Dean of Studies at St. Thomas Seminary (1985-86) Secretary to the Bishop (1986-88) Assistant Parish Priest of Hundung Parish (1988-89) Judicial Vicar and Chancellor of the Archdiocese (1994-98) Parish Priest and Principal of Sacred Heart Church and School, Hundung (1998-2004) Associate Director of St. John's Medical College, Bangalore (2004-07) Vicar General of the Archdiocese (2007-10) Parish Priest of Ukhrul (2010-13) Administrator of Caritas India (2013-14) Rector of Oriens Theological College, Shillong (2014-17) Parish Priest of Chandel (2018-20) Director of the Archdiocese Retreat Centre, Imphal (2020-23) Currently, Parish Priest of Sacred Heart Church, Hundung.

He is a well know figure in the Archdiocese of Imphal. He had published books and articles in different journals. During the peak of the global Pandemic (Covid-19), Rev. Fr. Linus Neli constantly reached out to the faithful with inspiring Sunday homilies in bilingual- Mao La and English. The Episcopal ordination of Archbishop Elect, Most Rev. Linus Neli D.D. will be consecrated on 8 December 2023 by Most Rev. Dominic Lumon, D.D, Archbishop Emeritus, Apostolic Administrator Imphal to gether with co-consecrators Most Rev. John Moolachira, D.D, Archbishop of Guwahati and Most Rev. James Thoppil, D.D, Bishop of Kohima in the presence of His Excellency, Leopoldo Girelli, Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal.

His appointment as the Archbishop was made public in Rome on Saturday, 7 October, 2023 at noon, corresponding to 15:30, Indian Standard Time.