By Matters India Reporter
Bhubaneswar, July 16, 2020: The 33rd plenary of the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI), which was scheduled to take place early next year in Odisha, has been postponed because of Covid-19 pandemic.
The bi-annual CCBI assembly of Latin Rite bishops was supposed to take place at the Xavier University International Centre organized by the prelates of Odisha and Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar from Feb 2 to 12, 2021.
“The revised dates will be fixed in consultation with CCBI and the Executive Committee, after assessing the prevailing situation in the country,” said Divine Word Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.
CCBI is a national episcopal body that enables the Latin bishops to exchange ideas and information and deliberate on the Church’s broad concerns and take care of the pastoral needs of the faithful.
It is the fourth largest bishops’ conferences in the world. It has 132 dioceses and 165 active and retired bishop members. The conference assists the bishops both for pastoral care and for evangelization: the twin duties of a bishop.
One of the main purposes of CCBI, according to its statutes, is “to promote that greater good which the Church offers humankind especially through fora and programs of the apostolate which are adequately adapted to the circumstances of time and space.”
The total Catholic population in Latin diocese is about 15 million. About 20 thousand Catholic priests and 62 thousand nuns work in ,8813 parishes in Latin dioceses.