Conference of Catholic Bishops of India gets new team of Theologians

(23 June 2006) : The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) has appointed a new deputy general secretary, and made changes in its various commissions. The new deputy general secretary, Fr. Udumala Bala, succeeds Father S. Sebastian, who served the premier Latin Catholic Bishops’ organisation for four years. Fr. Bala has a doctorate in Moral Theology. He served for nine years as the Rector of St. John’s Regional Seminary in Hyderabad in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh before being appointed to the CCBI.

The reshuffle has also brought in Salesian Father Egidio Fernandes, as the new executive secretary of the CCBI Commission for Family. He replaces Father Vernon Vaz of Mangalore who served in the post for eight years. The Commission for Vocations, Seminaries, Clergy and Religious too has a new executive secretary, Father John Kulandai, vicar general of Kottar and former professor and rector of St. Paul’s Seminary, Trichy. He takes over from Father Arul Joseph of Madurai Archdiocese who served the commission for eight years. Father Peter Thumma, former judge of Metropolitan Tribunal and Chancellor of Madras-Mylapore Archdiocese, has been appointed executive secretary of the Commission of Canon Law and Interpretation of Legislative texts. He replaces Father Dominic Savio Fernandes of the Archdiocese of Bombay. Father Vijay Shanti Raj of Varanasi Diocese has been appointed secretary of the Commission for Proclamation. He replaces Father Satyanand, IMS, who was the executive secretary of the commission for four years.

The executive secretaries of other Commissions for Laity, Bible, Liturgy, Theology and Doctrine and Ecumenism continue in their respective offices. The Bangalore-based Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India, CCBI, is the fourth largest Episcopal Conference in the world with 128 dioceses and 158 bishop members. It is eighteen years old and is striving to be at the service of the Local Church, the Indian Church and the Universal Church.