Bishop Thomas Dabre to assume office on June 7

(June 6, 2009) The installation of Bishop Thomas Dabre as the new bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Pune will be held on June 7 at 6 pm at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Pope Benedict XVI appointed Rev. Thomas Dabre, former bishop of the Vasai diocese, as the new bishop of Pune on April 4. Along with Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the archbishop of Mumbai, four archbishops (Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur, Stanislaus Fernandes of Gandhinagar, Filipe Neri of Goa and Felix Machado of Nashik) and six bishops from various dioceses in the western region will grace the installation ceremony. Cardinal Gracias and Rev. Valerian D'Souza, the former bishop of Pune, will lead Bishop Thomas Dabre to the "Cathedra", which is the official chair of the bishop of Pune. The letter of appointment commonly known as the "Papal Bull" sent by Pope Benedict XVI will be read by the Chancellor, Rev. Fr Joe Abraham. Bishop Dabre was born in Vasai on October 23, 1945. He completed his seminary studies at St Pius X College in Mumbai and at the Papal Athanaeum, Pune. He was ordained a priest on October 31, 1971 in Vasai. From June 1973, he served as professor at the Papal Athanaeum till 1990. On April 21, 1990 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Mumbai. On May 27, 1998, Pope John Paul II appointed him as the first bishop of the new diocese of Vasai. Bishop Dabre has been holding various important posts at the national level. He is the chairman of the Doctrinal Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI). Rev. Valerian D'Souza resigned as bishop of Pune on attaining the age of 75 after 32 years of service.