Pope Names Archbishop of Bombay

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 15, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI named Archbishop Oswald Gracias as archbishop of Bombay, announced the Vatican.

The archbishop succeeds Cardinal Ivan Dias, who was named in May as president of the Vatican Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy See press office announced Saturday.

Archbishop Gracias, who had been archbishop of Agra, India, is president of India's episcopal conference.

Oswald Gracias, 61, is a native of Mumbai. He was ordained a priest in 1970.

He studied a doctorate in Canon Law in Rome from 1977 to 1981.

He returned to Mumbai where he was first appointed secretary to the archbishop of Bombay and chancellor of the archdiocese.

In 1997, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Bombay, and in 2000 he was named archbishop of Agra.

In addition to being president of India's episcopal conference, he is the chairman of the conference's Commission for Social Communications, and a visiting professor of Canon Law.