Bangalore 8 December 2021 (CCBI) His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Most Rev. Theodore Mascarenhas (61), S.F.X. the Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi as the new Apostolic Administrator, sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Daltonganj in Jharkhand on 8 December, 2021. This appointment is an additional to his present Office as Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi.
Diocese of Daltonganj was vacant in 2016 by the resignation of Bishop Gabriel Kujur, S.J. and Most Rev. Anand Jojo Bishop of Hazaribag was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of Daltonganj on 7 July 2016.
The Bishop Theodore was born on 9 November 1960, in Camurlim, Archdiocese of Goa. He studied Philosophy at St. Charles Seminary, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and Theology at the All India Mission Seminary, of the Society of Pilar, Goa. He holds a Master of Arts in political science from the Nagpur University, and a licentiate and doctorate in sacred scripture form the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He was ordained a priest on 24 April 1988.
After his ordination he has held a number of pastoral roles: 1988-1993: Pastoral work in Punjab, North India, in parishes and in two schools as Vice-Principal and Principal; 1994-2001: Studies for the Licentiate and Doctorate at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome; 1998-2004: Coordinator of the works of the Society of Pilar in Rome; 2005: superior delegate for the Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier in Europe; 2006: Official of the Pontifical Council for Culture; since 2010: procurator general of the Society of St. Francis Xavier, member of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses and lecturer in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Gregorian University and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome.
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi on 9 July 2014 at the age of 53 and was ordained Bishop on 3 August, 2014. He was the Secretary General of the CBCI from March 2016 to June 2019. He is a priest for 33 years and a bishop for 7 years.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary General, CCBI