Bangalore: Led by Archibishop, Team Including Mangalore Bishop to Visit Rome

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Aug 29: A 9-member team of Bishops of Karnataka, including Mangalore Bishop Dr Aloysius Paul D'Souza, led by Bangalore Archbishop Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras, who is also the President of Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council (KRCBC), will be leaving for Rome to meet Pope Benedict XVI on the official 'Ad Limina’ visit from September 1 to 10.

'Ad Limina’ is a technical term implying an obligation on the part of all the members of Catholic Church hierarchy to visit ''thresholds of the Apostles” Saints Peter and Paul and present themselves before the Pope, the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church, to give an account of their respective Dioceses.

The object of the visit is not merely to make a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles, but, above all, to show the proper reverence for the successor of St Peter, to acknowledge practically his universal jurisdiction by giving an account of the condition of particular churches, to receive his admonitions and counsels, and thus bind more closely the members of the Church to its Divinely appointed head.

The Bishops of the Karnataka Metropolitan Province, who will be part of the team led by the Archbishop of Bangalore, comprises: Most Rev T Anthony Swamy (Bishop of Chikmagalur), Most Rev Thomas Vazhapilly (Bishop of Mysore), Most Rev Henry D’Souza (Bishop of Bellary), Most Rev Derek Fernandes (Bishop of Karwar), Most Rev Aloysius Paul D’Souza (Bishop of Mangalore), Most Rev Peter Machado (Bishop of Belgaum), Most Rev Gerald Isaac Lobo (Bishop of Shimoga) and Most Rev Robert Michael Miranda (Bishop of Gulbarga).

During the Ad Limina visit, all the Bishops of Karnataka, will convey to the Holy Father their filial love, respect and obedience, and request him to impart his apostolic blessings upon all of them and the in people Karnataka.

At the same time all Bishop’s pray for Karnataka at the tombs of Saints Peter and Paul and at the other Basilicas in Rome.