(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

Bangalore 2 February 2016: His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Fr. Christudas Rajappan, of the Clergy of Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum, as Auxiliary Bishop of Latin Archdiocese of Trivandrum and Titular Bishop of Avitta Bibba. This ecclesiastical provision was made public in Rome on Tuesday, 2 February 2016, at noon local time, corresponding to 16:30 hours, Indian Standard Time. Rev. Fr. Christudas Rajappan was born on 25 November 1971, at Adimalathura, in the Arch

Cochin 12 January 2016: His Holiness Pope Francis appointed Msgr. Jose Pulickal as the first auxiliary bishop of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy of Kanjirapally in Kerala. At present, he is Syncellus of the eparchy of Kanjirapally. The Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church assembled at Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad from 7th January 2016, elected Rev. Fr. Jose Pulickal as the Auxiliary Bishop. Rev. Dr. Jose Pulickal was born on 3 March 1964, in the parish of Inchiyani, in the Epar

Bangalore 19 December 2015: His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Fr. Joseph Raja Rao Thelagathoti (63), the Bangalore Provincial Superior of the Montfort Missionaries (SMM), is the new bishop of Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. This provision was made public in Rome on Saturday19 December 2015, at noon local time, corresponding to 16:30 hours, Indian Standard Time. The seat of the Vijayawada Diocese has been vacant since 2012 after Pope Benedict transferred Bishop ‎Praka

Kathmandu 8 December 2015: Bishop Anthony Francis Sharma S.J. (78), Emeritus Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal passed away peacefully on Tuesday 8 December 2015 at 11:40 p.m. at St. Xavier’s Father Jesuit Residence, Jawalakhel, Lalitpur, Kathmandu. He had been in declining health after he was discharged from the Hospital. His funeral will take place on Thursday 10 December 2015 at 12.30 p.m. at the Church of Assumption, Dhobighat, Kathmandu, Nepal. Bishop Anthony Sha

Conference of Catholic Bishops of India Circular for the Holy Year of Mercy December 8, 2015 to November 20, 2016 To All the Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Deacons, Religious, Catechists and lay faithful of Latin Catholic Church in India. Your Eminence, Your Grace, Your Excellency, Greetings of Peace and Joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, the living face of the Father’s Mercy. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis has announced an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy which will begin on De

Kochi: 26 August 2015: Rev. Fr. Antony Kariyil, CMI, till now Director of Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kochi, as the new Bishop of the Eparchy of Mandya, in Karnataka. This provision was made public in Rome on Wednesday 26 August 2015 at noon local time, corresponding to 15:30 hours, Indian Standard Time. The Synod of Bishops assembled at Mount St. Thomas from 17 to 26 August 2015 elected Fr. Antony Kariyil CMI the second bishop of the Syro-Malabar Eparchy o

Cochin 6 August 2015: The Holy Father Pope Francis erected an Apostolic Exarchate (Vicariate) for the Syro-Malabar faithful in Canada with its See in Mississauga and Fr. Jose Kalluvelil, as its first Exarch, assigning him the titular see of “Tabalta”. The announcement regarding these provisions was made by the Holy Father Pope Francis today, on Thursday, 6 August 2015 in the Vatican at 12.00 noon and simultaneously at the Major Archiepiscopal Curia, Mount St. Thomas, Kakkanad