Pope Francis appoints Fr Ignatius DSouza as Bishop of Bareilly

By Fr. J.B. Crasta
Bellevision Media Network

Mangalore, 11 July 2014: Pope Francis on Friday 11th July 2014 appointed Rev. Fr. Ignatius D’ Souza, Vicar General of the Diocese of Lucknow, as the new  Bishop of Bareilly succeeding Bishop Anthony Fernandes whose resignation has been accepted. The appointment of the new Bishop was announced simultaneously in Rome, Bareilly and Lucknow at 3.30 pm, Indian Standard Time.

 

Rev. Fr. Ignatius D’ Souza was born on August 4, 1964 to late Mr. C. L.  D’ Souza and Mrs. Lucy D’ Souza in a family of five boys and seven girls at Basrikatte, diocese of Chikmagalure in Karnataka. Since 1993 they belong to St. Dominic Parish, Ashoknagar in Mangalore. After High School education at Kadur he joined St. Paul’s Minor Seminary in view of becoming a priest for the diocese of Lucknow.  He completed Philosophical and Theological studies at St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary in Allahabad. He was ordained by late Archbishop Cecil De Sa on 7th April, 1991 at St. Joseph’s Cathedral Lucknow. The Bishop-elect holds a B.Th degree from St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary, a B.A. and an M.A. in Public Administration from Annamalai University. He obtained licentiate in Biblical studies from the Pontifical Gregorian University and Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Urban University in Rome.

The Bishop-elect started his priestly life as the Assistant priest at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, Lucknow and for two years he was Vice Principal of Cathedral School (1991-1993); then he was appointed Professor at St. Paul’s Minor Seminary (1994). He procured licentiate in Biblical studies in Rome (1994-1998). Subsequently he was Assistant and Vice Principal at St. Anthony’s, Barabanki (1999). After a three-year stint as the Director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre (2000-2003), he obtained Doctorate in Biblical Theology from Pontifical Urban University in Rome (2003-2006). The Bishop-elect was assigned at the Cathedral for a second time (2007). Since 2008 he served as the Parish Priest of Cathedral and Vicar General of the Diocese. He was also appointed the Director of Clergy Home in 2014. From 1999 he was visiting professor of Sacred Scripture at St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary, Allahabad. He worked as the Director of Ecumenism and Inter Religious Dialogue during 2008-2014 and was well known among the Christian denominations and people of other Faiths in Lucknow. The Bishop-elect was instrumental in building a School for the Visually Impaired at Mohanlalganj, Lucknow. 

The Bishop-elect is fluent in Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Hindi and English besides German and Italian.  Furthermore he holds diploma in Latin, Hebrew and Greek languages.  He is popular for teaching Sacred Scripture, preaching retreats, humane approach, capacity for hard work and administrative abilities. One of his elder sisters Sr. Margarita, is the Headmistress of Maryknoll Higher Primary School at Barkur. His younger brother Rev. Fr. Paul Melwyn D’ Souza Ofm Cap (Pamedi) is currently pursuing Doctorate at Zürich in Switzerland. His uncle Rev. Fr. J. B. Crasta, the parish priest of Cathedral of Mangalore said “God has blessed my nephew with many gifts. He will be a good shepherd to the people Bareilly. We pray to the Lord to bless him to carry out his mission successfully.”  His cousin Fr Melwyn Rodrigues is a priest of Lucknow diocese currently serving as the director of Diocesan Social Works.

On 19th January 1989, His Holiness Pope John  Paul II (St. John Paul) erected the Diocese of Bareilly carving out six districts of the Diocese of Lucknow in the State of Uttar Pradesh.  With the creation of the new State of Uttarakhand and with the further division of the districts the Catholic Diocese of Bareilly now comprises of nine districts of two North States, viz. Bareilly, Shahjahanpur and Philibhit from Uttar Pradesh and the Districts of Udham Singh Nagar,  Nainital, Almorah, Bageshwar, Pithoragrah, and Champawat from the State of Uttarakhand. It covers 32,229 square kilometers where 10,249,596 people live, including 6,435 (0.1%) are Catholics. Its 43 parishes are served by 58 priests (42 diocesan and 16 religious), 8 religious brothers and 270 sisters.