PANAJI
Pope Francis on Thursday appointed Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, S.F.X., Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi and Apostolic Administrator of Daltonganj, as the new bishop of Daltonganj diocese in Jharkhand.
Incidentally, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas is the second bishop in the Mascarenhas family from Camurlim-Salcete. His brother, Bishop Sebastiäo Mascarenhas, S.F.X., former Superior General of the Missionaries of St Francis Xavier (Pilar Fathers), was appointed Bishop of Baroda on December 31, 2022.
The See of Daltonganj has been vacant since July 7, 2016 and Bishop Theodore will be the fourth Bishop of this diocese which was established on June 5, 1971.
Bishop Theodore was born on November 9, 1960 in Camurlim-Salcete and gave his first religious vows in the Society of Saint Francis Xavier on June 14, 1979. He was ordained a priest on April 24, 1988 for the same Society of Pilar. He was awarded a doctorate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome.
On July 9, 2014, he was appointed titular bishop of Lisinia and auxiliary of the archdiocese of Ranchi, receiving episcopal ordination on August 30, 2014.
From 2016 to 2019, he was secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. Since December 8, 2021, he has also served as apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Daltonganj.
