Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Albert Hemrom as coadjutor archbishop of Guwahati, putting the first Indigenous Adivasi prelate in line to lead the metropolitan archdiocese in Northeast India.
The Holy See announced the appointment on July 16. Hemrom, 57, has served as bishop of Dibrugarh in Assam since 2019.
He will succeed Archbishop John Moolachira when the pope accepts Moolachira’s resignation. The archbishop turns 75 in December, the age when bishops are required under church law to submit their resignation.
Hemrom is the first Adivasi appointed coadjutor archbishop of Guwahati and the first local priest from the Diocese of Dibrugarh chosen to lead the metropolitan archdiocese.
His appointment strengthens Indigenous leadership in a region where many Catholics belong to Adivasi and other Indigenous communities.
The Archdiocese of Guwahati serves more than 63,000 Catholics in 47 parishes. Its faithful include members of the Garo, Rabha, Bodo, Karbi, Tiwa, Santal, and other Adivasi communities.
The appointment also reflects the growing role of local clergy in a church whose leadership was historically drawn largely from missionary congregations.
In a thanksgiving address, Hemrom thanked Pope Leo for the appointment.
“I offer my deepest thanks to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV for the trust he has placed in me by appointing me as Coadjutor Archbishop of this venerable Archdiocese,” he said.
Hemrom also pledged to work closely with Moolachira during the transition.
“I come not to replace his vision, but to serve alongside him, to learn from his experiences, and to lighten his burdens as we journey together,” he said.
As coadjutor archbishop, Hemrom has the right of succession. He will formally assume the office after presenting the apostolic letter of his appointment to the archdiocese’s College of Consultors.
Once the pope accepts Moolachira’s resignation, Hemrom will automatically become metropolitan archbishop without another papal appointment.
He will become the third metropolitan archbishop of Guwahati and the first local cleric to lead the ecclesiastical province.
The Guwahati ecclesiastical province includes the dioceses of Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Diphu, Bongaigaon, Itanagar, and Miao.
The archdiocese covers 13,961 square kilometers and is served by 67 diocesan priests, 155 religious priests, and 516 women religious.
Hemrom was born Feb. 27, 1969, in Konapathar in the Diocese of Dibrugarh. He began his formation at St. Joseph’s Minor Seminary in Dibrugarh before studying philosophy and theology in Shillong.
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Dibrugarh on April 25, 1999.
Hemrom earned a licentiate in canon law from St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in Bengaluru in 2003 and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome in 2014.
Before becoming a bishop, he served as a parish priest, seminary rector, judicial vicar, vocation promoter, and professor of canon law.
Pope Francis appointed him coadjutor bishop of Dibrugarh in December 2018. He was ordained a bishop on Feb. 24, 2019, and later succeeded Bishop Joseph Aind as head of the diocese.
Hemrom chairs the Northeast Social Communication Commission and the Regional Canon Law Commission of the Northeast India Regional Bishops’ Council.
In his address, Hemrom asked clergy, religious, and laypeople to pray that he would receive “wisdom, humility, courage, and a shepherd’s heart” as he assumes his new responsibility.
“As I take on this new responsibility, I am deeply conscious of my own human limitations,” he said.
