Pope appoints new archbishop for Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar
(February 11, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday appointed a new archbishop to head
the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar in the eastern Indian state of Orissa. The
Holy Father nominated Divine Word Bishop John Barwa of Rourkela, Orissa, as the new
Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, succeeding Divine Word Archbishop Raphael Cheenath
who has stepped down on having reached the retirement age of 75 in 2009. 55-year
old Bishop Barwa was born in Gaibira, on June 1, 1955. He became a member of the
Society of the Divine Word in 1984 and the following year was ordained priest. In
2006 he was appointed Coadjutor bishop of Rourkela and in 2009 succeeded Bishop Alphonse
Bilung, the first bishop of Rourkela. Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar
has retired after heading Orissa’s only archdiocese for 25 years. The Catholic Church
of Orissa is passing through one of its most trying times with anti-Christian violence
on the surge. The worst violence it faced was in 2008.