Media Release
Bhubaneswar, Feb 2: Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão has been re-elected as president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), while archbishop Peter Machado of Bengaluru has been elected as vice president and archbishop Vincent Aind of Ranchi as secretary general. The elections took place during the 36th Plenary Assembly of the CCBI at XIM University, Bhubaneswar.
Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão (72) was first elected as the president at the 31st plenary assembly held in Chennai in 2019. He was re-elected for a second term in 2023 at the 34th plenary assembly in Bengaluru. In addition to his leadership in India, he also serves as president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC), a role he took on in January 2025. He is also the member of the dicastery for Evangelisation and secretariat for Synod of bishops.
Born on January 20, 1953, in Aldona, Goa, he was appointed titular bishop of Vanariona and auxiliary bishop of Goa and Damão on January 25, 1994. A decade later, on January 16, 2004, Pope St John Paul II named him archbishop of Goa and Damão, granting him the honorary title of Patriarch of the East Indies. Installed as archbishop on March 21, 2004, he was later created a Cardinal by Pope Francis on August 27, 2022, with the Title of Santa Maria in Via. Cardinal Ferrão is also a member of the Ddcastery for Evangelization and the Synod secretariat.
Archbishop Peter Machado (70) was born on May 26, 1954, and ordained a priest on December 8, 1978, for the Diocese of Karwar. He holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Urban University, Rome. He was appointed bishop of Belgaum on February 2, 2006, and ordained on March 30, 2006. He was later appointed archbishop of Bangalore on March 19, 2018 and installed on May 31, 2018. He currently serves as president of the Karnataka Regional Bishops’ council and chairman of the CCBI commission for Laity.
Archbishop Vincent Aind (70) was born on January 30, 1955, in Kalchini, West Bengal, in the Diocese of Jalpaiguri. Ordained a priest on April 30, 1984, he holds a master’s degree in English Literature, a bachelor’s degree in economics, a Licentiate in philosophy from Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune and a doctorate in Philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He was appointed bishop of Bagdogra on April 7, 2015 and ordained on June 14, 2015. Archbishop Aind is also chairman of the CCBI Commission for theology and doctrine. On December 30, 2023, he was appointed archbishop of Ranchi.