Bangalore 10 December, 2018 (CCBI) His Holiness, Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of His Excellency Most Rev. Prasad Gallela (56) as Bishop of Cuddapah, and has appointed His Excellency Most Rev. Gali Bali (79), Bishop Emeritus of Guntur, as Apostolic Administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Cuddapah, Andhra Pradesh. The announcement took place on Monday, 10 December, 2018.
Bishop Gali Bali was born on 29 April 1939, in Patibanda, Guntur district. He was ordained as priest on 19 December 1964, and appointed Bishop of Guntur on 2 July 1984 and ordained as Bishop on 23 October 1984. He was a professor of Sacred Scriptures in St John’s Regional Seminary, Hyderabad, before his appointment as the diocesan prelate. He was the Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Bishops’ Council’s Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue and also Chairman of the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). He also served the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) as the Chairman of the Bible Commission from 2008 to 2015. He is a priest for 53 years and a Bishop for 34 years.