2014-03-19 16:49:55

Pope appoints bishop in India


March 19,2014: Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Jesuit Fr. Francis Serrao as the new bishop of Shimoga in southern India’s Karnataka State. The 54-year old priest a native of Mangalore Diocese, entered the Jesuit Order 3rd January 1979 at the novitiate of Mount St. Joseph in Bangalore. He studied philosophy and theology at the Jesuit Institutes of Satya Nilayam in Chennai and Jnana Deepa Vidya Peetha in Pune, and then did his Master’s in theology at Vidhya Jyoti College in Delhi. He was ordained priest 30 April 1992 and took his perpetual vows in the Jesuit Order in 1999.
After his priestly ordination he covered the following services:
1992-1933: Pastoral Minister in Mundgod, Karwar Diocese;
1994-1997: Social Action-Loyola Vikas Kendra, Mundgod;
1998-2000: Director of the Regional Theologate, Bangalore;
2000-2003: Parish priest of St. Joseph Church,Annnekal, Mangalore;
2003-2004: Superior,Bejapur Jesuit Community;
2004-2009: Rector of St. Aloysius College, Mangalore;
Since 2009 he has been the provincial of the Karnataka Jesuit Province and now replaces Bishop Gerald Issac Lobo, who in 2012 was transferred to the new diocese of Udipi.
The Diocese of Shimoga a suffragan in the Archdiocese of Bangalore, covers an area of 21,405 sq. km. and has a population of about 8,040.000, of whom some 21.241 are Catholics.










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