Irinjalakuda 10 July 2016: Bishop Emeritus of Irinjalakuda diocese of Syro-Malabar, His Excellency Mar James Pazhayattil (82) passed away on Sunday 10 July 2016 at 10.50pm at Jubilee Mission Medical College Hospital Thrissur. Funeral was conducted at St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Cathedral, Irinjalakuda on Wednesday 13 July 2016. Bishop Mar James Pazhayattil was the first Bishop of Irinjalakuda Syro-Malabar Diocese. He was born on 26 July 1934 at Puthenchira in Trichur Dis

His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of His Lordship Most Rev. Gabriel Kujur, S.J., from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Daltonganj, according to Canon Law 401 § 2, and has appointed His Lordship Rt. Rev. Anand Jojo, Bishop of Hazaribag, as Apostolic Administrator sede vacante of the Diocese of Daltonganj. This ecclesiastical provision was made public in Rome on Thursday, 7th July, 2016, at noon local time, corresponding to 15:30 hours, Indian Standard T

His Holiness Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of His Lordship Most Rev. Gabriel Kujur, S.J., from the pastoral care of the Diocese of Daltonganj. This ecclesiastical provision was made public in Rome on Thursday, 7th July, 2016, at noon local time, corresponding to 15:30 hours, Indian Standard Time.

Archbishop Emeritus Henry Sebastian D’Souza who served the Archdiocese of Calcutta from 1986-2002 passed away peacefully at 14:00 hours on Monday 27 June 2016 at Vianney Home, 9/3 Middleton Row, Kolkata – 71 where he was spending his retirement life. He was 90 years old and died of cardiac arrest. Archbishop Henry was born on January 20, 1926, in Calcutta and was ordained a priest on August 24, 1948 after completing his Philosophical and Theological studies at Papal Seminary,

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday appointed a new bishop to the Diocese of Guntur in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Fr. Bhagyaiah ‎Chinnabathini, a parish priest from the Diocese of Nalgonda, in the neighboring state of Telangana, is the new bishop of Guntur. The 60-year old priest takes over from Bishop Gali Bali, who has retired. Fr. Chinnabathini priest was born on Sept, 19, 1956, at Motakondur-Yadagirigutta Mandal. After attending the minor seminary of

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday appointed a new bishop to the Diocese of Guntur in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh state. Fr. Bhagyaiah ‎Chinnabathini, a parish priest from the Diocese of Nalgonda, in the neighboring state of Telangana, is the new bishop of Guntur. The 60-year old priest takes over from Bishop Gali Bali, who has retired. Fr. Chinnabathini priest was born on Sept, 19, 1956, at Motakondur-Yadagirigutta Mandal. After attending the minor seminary of

Vatican 23 May 2016: Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed His Grace Most Rev. Stanislaus Fernandes, SJ, Archbishop Emeritus of Gandhinagar, Apostolic Administrator sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Baroda, due to the reasons of health of His Excellency Most Rev. Godfrey de Rozario, SJ, Bishop of Baroda. Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes was born on 8 October 1939 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. At the age of 28, he was ordained Priest on 23 March 1968 and he prof

Raiganj 30 April 2016: Most Rev. Alphonsus F. D’Souza, SJ, Bishop of Raiganj, West Bengal passed away at Bishop’s House, Raiganj, at 12.30 p.m., on 30 April 2016, following a massive heart attack. He was 76. Bishop Alphonsus’ health was not good for quite some time. He was all set to go for a medical check-up to Siliguri around noon on 30 April 2016, walked down the stairs from his room to the ground floor, but before getting into the vehicle, suffered a massive heart attack

Dindigul 11 April 2016: His Holiness ‎Pope Francis on Monday 11 April 2016 appointed Fr. Thomas Paulsamy as the new bishop of Dindigul, in Tamil Nadu state, making it a suffragan of Madurai Metropolitan Archdiocese. The see of Dindigul has been vacant since the transfer of Bishop Antony Pappusamy as Archbishop of Madurai in 26 July 2014. Fr. Paulsamy was born on 2 August1951 at N. Poolampatty, in Tiruchirapalli Diocese. After his schooling in his native village he studied phi

Bhubaneswar 11 April 2016: Pope Francis on Monday 11 April 2016 erected a new diocese Rayagada in Odisha and appointed former Vincentian novice master Fr. Aplinar Senapati as its first Bishop. Rayagada was carved out Berhampur diocese in western Odisha. It is the 132 Latin Catholic diocese in India and sixth in Odisha, under Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese. The 39,368 sq km diocese covers the civil districts of Kalahandi, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Nuapada and Rayagada

CCBI Laity Commission Secretary Rev. Dr. Joseph Coracao De Jesus Dias, SVD (58) from the India East Province (Odisha) of Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) passed away on Saturday 26 March 2016 after a massive heart attack. The funeral will be conducted on Thursday 31 March 2016 at Sandhi Sadan Provincial House, Jharsuguda, Odisha. He was serving Conference of Catholic Bishops of India from 1 June 2015. Fr. Joseph Dias was born on 8 January 1958 in Goa, joined SVD Congregation an

To: All Member Bishops Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India Your Eminence / Grace / Excellency, On the first Maundy Thursday service after his election as Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis washed the feet of several inmates at one of Rome’s prisons. There was great wonderment because among those whose feet he washed were some girls and some not belonging to the Catholic faith. Although the Vatican Spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, said that this was not to be taken as a cha