India’s Latin-rite Bishops elect new office bearers

Jan 18, 2019

CHENNAI: India’s Latin-rite bish- ops elected new office bearers.

One hundred and forty-three Latin- rite bishops from 132 Latin-rite dioceses participated in the plenary meeting, January 7-14. The Con- ference of Catholic Bishops of In- dia (CCBI) is the largest bishops’ conference in Asia and the fourth largest in the world. It consists of 132 dioceses with 189 bishops.

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman was elected the president of CCBI the during the 31st Plenary Assembly of the CCBI that is taking place at the seaside town of Mahabalipuram, in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state.

Archbishop Ferrao takes over from Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, who served as president for three terms of two years each from 2013 to 2019.

Archbishop George An- tonysamy of Madras and Mylapore has been re-elected vice presi- dentand Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi has also been re-elected as secretary-general.

Pope Francis sent his blessing to the participants at the start of the CCBI plenary meeting praying that their discussions bear much fruit in their service of God’s peo- ple, as they strive to grow in faith and charity. In a message sent by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardi- nal Pietro Parolin, the Pope urged that the faithful in India live out their vocation joyfully and gener- ously.

Until recently, Cardinal Gracias headed three important bishops’ conferences of Asia at the same time. He was president of the Fed- eration of Asian Bishops’ Confer- ences (FABC) for two terms until December 31. He just ended his presidency of CCBI but continues to head the CBCI as president. --Vatican News