By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru, Dec 9, 2021: Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi as the apostolic administrator of the diocese of Daltonganj.
The appointment was announced on December 8 in Rome.
“This appointment is an additional to his present office as Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi,” says a press release from Father Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (Latin rite).
Bishop Mascarenhas was a former secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, a national body for bishops of all three ritual Churches in India – Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara.
The diocese of Daltonganj was without a leader since the resignation of Jesuit Bishop Gabriel Kujur in 2016. Bishop Anand Jojo of Hazaribag was appointed the apostolic administrator on July 7, 2017..
S.J. and Most Rev. Anand Jojo Bishop of Hazaribag was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of Daltonganj on 7 July 2016.
Bishop Theodore was born on November 9, 1960, in Camurlim, Archdiocese of Goa. He studied philosophy at St. Charles Seminary, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and theology at the All India Mission Seminary of the Society of Pilar, Goa. He holds a Master of Arts in political science from the Nagpur University, and a licentiate and doctorate in sacred scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He was ordained a priest on April 24, 1988.
After ordination he was on pastoral work in the northern Indian state of Punjab during 1988-1993. He also served as the coordinator of the works of the Society of Pilar in Rome. He was superior delegate for the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier in Europe. He was official of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
He was the procurator general of the Society of St. Francis Xavier, member of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses and lecturer in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome.
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi on July 9, 2014, at the age of 53. He served as the CBCI secretary general during 2016-2019. He is a priest for 33 years and a bishop for 7 years.