Kierkels was born in
Baexem,
Netherlands on 12 December 1882. He was ordained a priest of the
Congregation of the Passion on 22 December 1906. He was appointed
Apostolic Delegate to India and
Titular Archbishop of Salamis on 23 March 1931. On 26 April 1931, he was ordained a bishop by
Cardinal Willem Marinus van Rossum, while the co-consecrators were Archbishop
Pietro Pisani, who had himself been the Apostolic Delegate to India from 1919 to 1924, and Bishop Giovanni Battista Peruzzo. On 1 July 1948, he was elevated to the Apostolic Internunciature to India. He resigned as Apostolic Internuncio on 29 June 1952, having served as the papal representative to India for 21 years. Kierkerls died on 7 November 1957. ==External links==