Pope Francis on December 30 appointed an archbishop and three bishops in India.
The Pope transferred Bishop Vincent Aind of Bagdogra, a diocese in West Bengal, to Jharkhand state as the new archbishop of Ranchi, the mother diocese of India’s tribal Church.
He also promoted Auxiliary Bishop Barthol Barretto of Bombay as the bishop of Nashik in the western Indian state of Maharashtra.
The two new bishops-elect are Father Peter Rumal Kharadi as the bishop of Jhabua in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Father Bernard Lancy Pinto as the bishop of Aurangabad, another diocese in Maharashtra.
At the same time the Pope accepted the resignations of Jesuit Archbishop Felix Toppo of Ranchi and Bishop Lourdunada Daniel after they crossed 75 years, the age limit of a Catholic bishop.
The announcements were made at noon in Rome and its corresponding time in India.
Archbishop-elect Aind was born on January 30, 1955, in Kalchini in the Alipurduar district of West Bengal.
Pope Francis appointed the bishop of Bagdogra on April 7, 2015, and Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, then archbishop of Ranchi, consecrated him on June 14 that year.
He was made a bishop while serving as the dean of the philosophy department at the Morning Star Regional Seminary in West Bengal.
After his ordination to Jalpaiguri diocese in 1984, he served in different capacities as assistant parish priest, and parish priest, besides working as professor, spiritual director, and rector of Morning Star Regional Seminary.
He is currently the chairman of the Commission for Theology and Doctrine under the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (Latin rite).
Bishop Barretto was born on September 16, 1961, in Mumbai, and was ordained a priest on April 8, 1989, for Bombay archdiocese. He served as director of Youth at the Pastoral Centre, parish priest in Panvel and Thane, secretary to the archbishop, and parish priest in Goregaon and Borivali.
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay on December 20, 2016, and consecrated on January 28, 2017. In the Bombay archdiocese, he is bishop-in-charge of the Small Christian Communities, Youth, and Associations. Presently, he is in charge of Social Communications and the Charismatic Movement. He is the Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Family.
Bishop-elect Kharadi was born on April 10, 1959, in Kaldela, Thandla Parish, at that time in the diocese of Ajmer and presently in the Jhabua diocese. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St. Charles Seminary, Nagpur, and was ordained a priest on April 6, 1988, for the Udaipur diocese in Rajasthan.
In 2002, when the diocese of Jhabua was created, he was incardinated in it. He was vicar general of the Jhabua diocese. Since 2018, he has been the regional secretary for SCCs, Laity and Family Life Commission and since May 24, 2021, he has served as the administrator Jhabua diocese, after the death of Basil Bhuriya from Covid-19.
Bishop-elect Pinto was born on August 20, 1963, in Diva, Thane District, Maharashtra. He was ordained a priest on January 16, 1993, for the Archdiocese of Bombay.
Among his many assignments was the chaplain to Young Christian Workers, Mumbai, and assistant director, Joseph Cardijn Technical School.
