Media Release

Bengaluru, Dec 9: Fr Sebastian Kallupura (67), currently the coadjutor archbishop of Patna succeeded as metropolitan archbishop as His Holiness Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Fr William D’Souza SJ (74) from the pastoral governance of Patna archdiocese.

This ecclesiastical provision was made public on Wednesday December 9 at 4.30 pm.

Archbishop Sebastian Kallupura, was born on July 14, 1952 at Teekoy, in the diocese of Palai, Kerala. In 1971 he joined the minor seminary in Palai for Patna diocese and was ordained a priest on May 14, 1984. He holds a bachelor of education from Bombay University. He served the archdiocese of Patna as a parish priest in various parishes, as assistant treasurer, director of the archdiocesan social apostolate and director of the Bihar Social Forum.

He was elected bishop of Buxar on April 7, 2009 and ordained on June 21, 2009. Pope Francis appointed him as the coadjutor archbishop of Patna on June 29, 2018. He is currently the chairman of the CCBI Commission for Family and the Caritas India.

Archbishop William of Patna retired

His Holiness Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Fr William D’Souza SJ (74) from the pastoral governance of the Patna archdiocese. This ecclesiastical provision was made public on Wednesday December 9 at 4.30 pm.

Archbishop William was born on March 5, 1946 in Madanthyar, Karnataka. He joined the Jesuit congregation and was ordained a priest on May 3, 1976. He did his philosophical studies in Shembanagur in Tamil Nadu and theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeet in Pune. He was superior of the Jesuit communities in various places. He served as rector of the minor seminary in Muzaffarpur, a parish priest in different parishes, secretary to the bishop of Muzaffarpur and provincial of the Patna Jesuit province from 1995 to 2001.

He was appointed as the first bishop newly created of Buxar on December 12, 2005 and ordained bishop on March 25, 2006 on the feast day of the annunciation of Mary, Mother of Perpetual Help Cathedral Buxar. He was also the administrator of Muzaffarpur diocese for a year. He was the parish priest of Itarhi in the district of Buxar at the time of his appointment as bishop. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Patna on October 1, 2007. He was a priest for 44 years and a bishop for 14 years.

Archbishop William was also known for his ecological ministries since 1996, especially when he set apart ten acre of prime land in the metropolis to build the first-ever bio-reserve. He was the archbishop who wrote to all the churches and communities not to indulge in electric illumination for Christmas since 52 kilogram of coal produces one unit of electricity. He always urged his people to stand up and take action especially on the conservation of electricity and water.