Vatican City: Pope Francis on November 12 promoted and transferred Bishop Raphy Manjaly of Allahabad as the archbishop of Agra, the mother diocese of the Church in northern India.

He succeeds Archbishop Albert D’Souza, who has headed the Agra Archdiocese since 2007. Archbishop D’Souza last year turned 75, the canonical retirement age for bishops.

Bishop Manjaly was born on February 7, 1958, in Vendore, in southern India’s Kerala state. After school in Kerala, he joined St. Lawrence Minor Seminary, Agra, in 1973. He then studied philosophy and theology at St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary, Allahabad.

He was ordained a priest on May 11, 1983.

He has studied master’s degree from Agra University and obtained a doctoral degree from Angelicum University of Rome, Italy.

Pope Benedict VI appointed him Bishop of Varanasi on February 24, 2007. In 2013, Pope Francis appointed him the Bishop of Allahabad.

In July this year, Pope Francis appointed him to the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue along with another Indian, Archbishop Felix Anthony Machado of Vasai, the secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.

The council is the Church’s central office for promoting interreligious dialogue in accordance with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, in particular the declaration Nostra aetate (In our time), the declaration on the Church’s relation with other religions.

It is responsible for promoting mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration between Catholics and followers of other religious traditions; encouraging the study of religions; and promoting the formation of persons dedicated to dialogue.

The current president the council is Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, who has held the post since May 25, 2019.