By Jose Kavi
New Delhi: Pope Francis on December 20 appointed two auxiliary bishops for Bombay archdiocese in western India.
A message from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India headquarters in New Delhi says the announcements were made at noon time in Room, corresponding to 4:30 pm in India.
The bishops-elect are Fathers Allwyn D’Silva and Barthol Barretto, both Bombay archdiocesan priests.
Father D’Silva, 68, currently works as the secretary of the Climate Change Desk of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences while Father Barretto, 55, is the parish priest of Immaculate Conception Church, Borivli, a suburb of Mumbai.
Bishop-elect D’Silva, a renowned social worker with vast pastoral experience, was ordained priest on April 19, 1975, and served the Archdiocese of Bombay in various capacities. He began as the assistant priest of St. Anthony’s Church, Vakola, a post he held for one year. He then worked at National Vocation Centre, Pune, until 1977. He was the in-charge of vocations for nine years until 1986.
He served as the parish priest of St. Jude Church, Jeri-Meri, Mumbai, for eight years. He served as the dean of South East Salsette Deanery during 1991-1994. He was then sent as pastor another St Jude Church, in Malad East, a post he held for six years.
He also served as the priest in-charge of St. Anthony’s Church, Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum cluster, for seven years. He also served the parish priest of Our Lady of Nazareth, Bhayandar during 2007-2011, and then pastor St. John the Baptist Church, Thane, for year when he was appointed episcopal vicar.
He has been a member of the Pastoral Council, Priests Council, Commission for Justice and Peace. He is Co-President of Centre for Peace Trust, Director of the Archdiocesan Office for Environment and Director of Prison Ministry India, Mumbai. He has also taught for more than 35 years at St. Pius X College, Mumbai.
Bishop Barretto was born in Mahim, Mumbai, on September 16, 1961. was ordained priest on April 8, 1989. He began his priestly ministry as the assistant pastor St. Xavier Church, Dabul, and stayed there until 1993. He then became the additional director of the Youth Section of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, Bandra for two years and as the director until 1999.
He served as the priest in-charge of St. Francis Xavier Parish Unit, Panvel, for three years until 2002. He then took over as the pastor of St. Lawrence Parish at Wagle Estate, Thane, and Dean of Thane Deanery until he became the secretary to the archbishop, a post he held until 2008.
He returned to parish ministry heading St. Thomas Church at Goregaon East and Spiritual Director at St. Pius X College, Goregaon; at the same time. He became the administrator the college in 2010. Since 2011, he has served as the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church at Borivli, and dean of Borivli Deanery.