Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) Elects New Office Bearers

Bhubaneswar, 2025 February 2 : Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao has been re-elected as the President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), while Archbishop Most Rev. Dr Peter Machado of Bangalore has been elected as the Vice President and Archbishop Most Rev. Dr Vincent Aind of Ranchi as Secretary General. The elections took place during the 36th Plenary Assembly of the CCBI at XIM University, Bhubaneswar. Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao (72) was first elected the President at the 31st Plenary Assembly held in Chennai in 2019. He was re-elected for a second term in 2023 at the 34th Plenary Assembly in Bangalore. In addition to his leadership in India, he also serves as the President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), an office he assumed in January 2025. He is also the member of the Dicastery for Evangelisation and the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops.
Born on 20th January 1953, in Aldona, Goa, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Vanariona and Auxiliary Bishop of Goa and Damao on 25th January 1994. A decade later, on 16th January 2004, Pope Saint John Paul II named him Archbishop of Goa and Damao. Installed as Archbishop on 21st March 2004, he was later created a Cardinal by Pope Francis on 27th August 2022, with the Title of Santa Maria in Via. Cardinal Ferrao is also a member of the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Synod Secretariat. Archbishop Most Rev. Dr Peter Machado (70) was born on 26th May 1954 and ordained a Priest on 8th December 1978, for the Diocese of Karwar. He holds a doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. He was appointed Bishop of Belgaum on 2nd February 2006 and ordained on 30th March 2006. He was later appointed Archbishop of Bangalore on 19th March 2018 and installed on 31st May 2018. He currently serves as the President of the Karnataka Regional Bishops’ Council and the Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Laity.
Archbishop Vincent Aind (70) was born on 30th January 1955, in Kalchini, West Bengal, in the Diocese of Jalpaiguri. Ordained a Priest on 30th April 1984, he holds a master’s degree in English Literature, a bachelor’s degree in economics, a Licentiate in Philosophy from Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, and a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He was appointed Bishop of Bagdogra on 7th April 2015 and ordained on 14th June 2015. Archbishop Most Rev. Dr Vincent Aind is also the Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. On 30th December 2023, he was appointed Archbishop of Ranchi.
By Dr Stephen Alathara