The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) is the permanent association of the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of India. It was established in September 1944, in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

. The CBCI Secretariat was located in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

until 1962, when it was shifted to the national capital,

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. The CBCI is a member of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences.

Status and relation to the episcopal bodies of the three rites

The CBCI is technically not an

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

as prescribed in canon 447 of the

1983 Code of Canon Law The 1983 ''Code of Canon Law'' (abbreviated 1983 CIC from its Latin title ''Codex Iuris Canonici''), also called the Johanno-Pauline Code, is the "fundamental body of Ecclesiastical Law, ecclesiastical laws for the Latin Church". It is the sec ...

; that role is fulfilled by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India. Rather, the CBCI is similar to the 'assembly of bishops' described in 322§2 of the

Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches The ''Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches'' (CCEC; , abbreviated CCEO) is the title of the 1990 work which is a codification of the common portions of the canon law for the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in the Catholic Church. It is divided i ...

. Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in a letter in 1987 directed the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

Syro-Malabar Church The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church based in Kerala, India. It is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Cathol ...

, and

Syro-Malankara Catholic Church The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, also known as the Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic '' sui iuris'' particular church that employs the West Syriac Rite and is in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church posse ...

to set up their own bishops' conferences. Nevertheless, the CBCI is the face of the Catholic Church in India and addresses the Church's "questions of common concern and of a national and supra-ritual character", while the episcopal body that heads each

particular church In metaphysics, particulars or individuals are usually contrasted with ''universals''. Universals concern features that can be exemplified by various different particulars. Particulars are often seen as concrete, spatiotemporal entities as opposed ...

deals with internal issues. The statutes of the CBCI were approved by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

on 21 April 1976, and were revised in 1996 by the CBCI.

Members

The ordinary members of the CBCI comprises all diocesan and eparchial bishops in India and those considered equal to them by canon law, as well as co-adjutor and auxiliary Bishops, and other titular Bishops performing a special work in India entrusted to them by the Apostolic See or by the Conference. Retired bishops and other titular bishops, not ordinary members of the Conference, and residing in India, are honorary members of the Conference. As of February 2014, the CBCI had around 180 members and 59 honorary members and it serves 167 dioceses.

Objectives

The objectives of the CBCI are to facilitate coordinated study and discussion of questions affecting the Church, and adoption of a common policy and effective action in matters concerning the common interests of the Catholic Church in India. The CBCI reviews the position of the Church in India, and also undertakes a variety of activities covering, for example, the youth, health care and media. Another role of the CBCI is to foster the communion among the three sui juris Churches. The CBCI is the face of the Catholic Church in India promotes advocacy on national issues, makes representation to Government, liaises with the Government and networks with other Christian Churches, organizations, associations of civil society and people of other religions.

Related episcopal bodies of India

The CBCI is at the service of the different episcopal conferences of three rites and the 13 regional councils of bishops.

Episcopal bodies of the three rites

* Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) from

* The Most Holy Episcopal Synod of

* The Most Holy Episcopal Synod from

Regional bishops' councils

# The Agra Regional Bishops' Council (ARBC) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Agra and dioceses of the Oriental Rites in Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal and Rajasthan. # The Andhra Pradesh Bishops' Council (APBC) comprises all the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam and dioceses of Oriental Rites in Andhra Pradesh. # The Bengal Regional Bishops' Council (BRBC) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Calcutta. # The BIJHAN Regional Bishops' Council (BRBC) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Ranchi and Patna. # The Council of Bishops of Chhattisgarh (CBCG) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Raipur and diocese of Oriental Rite in Chhattisgarh. # The Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops' Council (KRCBC) comprises all the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Bangalore and dioceses of Oriental Rites in Karnataka. # The

Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council is a permanent association of the Catholic bishops in Kerala. Headquartered in Kochi, it is an association of three rites of the Catholic Church - the Roman / Latin, the Syro Malabar and the Syro Malankara. ...

(KCBC) comprises all the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Trivandrum, Verapoly (Latin Rite), Changanacherry, Ernakulam-Angamaly, Kottayam, Trichur, Tellicherry (Syro-Malabar Rite) & Tiruvalla, Trivandrum (Syro-Malankara Rite). # The Council of Bishops of Madhya Pradesh (CBMP) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Bhopal and dioceses of Oriental Rites in Madhya Pradesh. # The Regional Bishops' Council of the North consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Delhi. # The North Eastern Regional Council consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Shillong, Guwahati and Imphal. # The Orissa Bishops' Regional Council (OBRC) consists of the Bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar. # The Tamil Nadu Bishops' Council (TNBC) comprises all the Bishops of ecclesiastical provinces of Madras-Mylapore, Madurai, Pondicherry-Cuddalore and dioceses of the Oriental Rites in Tamil Nadu. # The Western Regional Bishops' Council comprises all the Bishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Bombay, Nagpur, Goa and Daman, Gandhinagar and dioceses of Oriental Rites in the Western Region.

Presidents

Valerian Gracias Valerian Gracias (23 October 1900 – 11 September 1978) was an Indian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Bombay from 1950 until his death. He was made a cardinal in 1953 by Pope Pius XII. Biography Valerian Gracias was born in Ka ...

(1958–1972) *

Mar Joseph Parecattil Joseph Parecattil (1 April 1912 – 20 February 1987) was an Indian prelate of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Ernakulam from 1956 to 1984, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969. He was the first Cardinal fro ...

(1972–1976) *

Lawrence Picachy Lawrence Trevor Picachy (7 August 1916 – 30 November 1992), was an Indian Jesuit priest, spiritual guide of Mother Teresa, and later Archbishop of Calcutta (1969 to 1992). He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1976. Biography Cardinal Pic ...

, S.J. (1976–1982) *

Simon Pimenta Simon Ignatius Pimenta (1 March 1920 – 19 July 2013) was a Roman Catholic Cardinal and Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay (now Mumbai). Early life Born on 1 March 1920 in the village of Marol, in Bombay to Joseph and Rosie Pimenta, the you ...

(1982–1988) * Aboon Mor

Benedict Gregorios Benedict Mor Gregorios (1 February 1916 – 10 October 1994) was the second metropolitan archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Life Gregorios or "Thangalathil Thirumeni" was born and raised in the Malankara Orthodox Church in Kall ...

, O.I.C. (1988–1989) * Alphonsus Mathias (1989 – 1994) * Joseph Powathil (1994–1998) * Alan Basil de Lastic (1998 – 20 June 2000) * Moran Mor Cyril Baselios, O.I.C. (2000–2004) * Telesphore Toppo (12 January 2004 – 19 February 2008) * Mar Varkey Vithayathil, C.Ss.R. (19 February 2008 – 3 March 2010) * Oswald Gracias (4 March 2010 – 10 February 2014) * Moran Mor

Baselios Cleemis Baselios Cleemis (born 15 June 1959) is the current Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was made a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. At the time of his elevation, he was the you ...

(11 February 2014 - 9 February 2018) * Oswald Gracias (9 February 2018 – 10 November 2022) * Andrews Thazhath (10 November 2022 - present)

National centres

* Caritas India * St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences * National Biblical, Catechetical and Liturgical Centre (NBCLC) * National Vocation Service Centre (NVSC) * National Institute of Social Communications, Research and Training (NISCORT) * CBCI Society for Medical Education, North India

References

External links

CBCI
official website

at GCatholic.org
Caritas India
{{Authority control

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Catholic Church in India