PANAJI
The Church in India rejoiced on Saturday as Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) and Archbishop of Goa and Daman and Archbishop of Hyderabad Anthony Poola were installed as Cardinals by Pope Francis along with another 18 prelates in the Consistory at St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City.
The solemn celebration was attended by thousands of faithful from around the world and by a large number of people from India, particularly since the country gets two new Cardinals.
Archbishop of Bombay Oswald Cardinal Gracias, His Beatitude George Cardinal Alencherry (Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church), His Beatitude Baselios Cardinal Cleemis (Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Church), Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado, Bishop of Eluru Jaya Rao Polimera, Bishop of Vijayawada Joseph Raja Rao, SMM, and Archbishop Emeritus of Bangalore Bernard Moras attended the ceremony.
The 20 new Cardinals represent the Church worldwide and reflect a wide variety of cultures, contexts and pastoral ministries. Seven of the newly-named Cardinals are from Europe, six from Asia, two from Africa, one from North America and four from Central and Latin America.
