(August 12, 2010) India’s new apostolic nuncio Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio received
a warm welcome from officials of India’s three Catholic rites when he arrived in New
Delhi. “We are very happy to have him here,” said Father Thomas d’Aquino Sequeira,
deputy secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). “India
needed a nuncio” as the previous one left seven months ago, he said. Italian Archbishop
Pennacchio, 57, was named on May 8 to succeed Archbishop Pedro López Quintana. “I
have come to India for the first time and will work in communion with the Churches
in India,” the nuncio said on his arrival on August 9. Archbishop Pennacchio was
apostolic nuncio to Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia, and apostolic delegate to Myanmar,
Laos, Malaysia and Brunei for the past seven years. He was based in Bangkok. Major
Archbishop Baselios Mar Cleemis of the Syro-Malankara Church, Bishop Gratian Mundadan,
Apostolic Visitator for the Syro-Malabar Church and Latin-rite Archbishop Vincent
Concessao of Delhi met the new nuncio at the airport. Also present was Brother Mani
Mekkunnel from the Conference of Religious India, the association for Relgious priests,
brothers and sisters. The Catholic Church in India comprises the Latin, Syro-Malabar
and Syro-Malankara rites and all three are represented in the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of India. The nuncio will begin his official work as ambassador of the Holy See after
presenting his credentials to Indian President Pratibha Patil.