Dom Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão (born 20 January 1953) is an Indian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He has served as Archbishop of Goa and Daman since 2004, and previously as an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1993 to 2004. Ferrão was created a cardinal by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

in 2022. He is the sixth prelate of Goan origin to attain the rank, but the first to be concurrently Archbishop of Goa and Daman since an episcopal see was established there in 1557.

Biography

Early life and education

Ferrão was born on 20 January 1953 in

Mapusa Mapusa (म्हापशें) is a town in North Goa, India. It is situated 13 km north of the capital Panaji. The town is the headquarters of Bardez Taluka. It is located on the main highway NH-17, linking Mumbai to Kochi. In Portugu ...

, Goa, to Agostinho Lourenço Tomé Ferrão and Maria Palmira Eugênia Gertrudes da Conceição Nazaré; he is the youngest of their three children. After completing the Preparatory Course at the Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligao-

Pilerne Pilerne is a village situated in north Goa in the Bardez taluka of the North Goa district. It is rustic despite being fairly close to the North Goa tourist belt, and is considered a Census Town for the purposes of the Census. The village has m ...

, Goa, he went to study philosophy and theology at the Papal Seminary,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. Ferrão was ordained a priest on 28 October 1979. His pastoral assignments were: Parochial Vicar at Salvador do Mundo in 1979 and in Chinchinim from 1981 to 1984; Prefect of Discipline at the Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligão-Pilerne, from 1984 to 1986, where he was also Director of the Vocation Commission for Diocesan Clergy. Ferrão then studied at the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, obtaining a licentiate degree in

Biblical Theology Because scholars have tended to use the term in different ways, Biblical theology has been notoriously difficult to define. Description Although most speak of biblical theology as a particular method or emphasis within biblical studies, some sch ...

in 1988, and then in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

at the International Institute ''Lumen Vitae'', earning a licentiate degree in

catechetics Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

and

pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as a ...

in 1991. Returning to Goa, he was the first director of the Diocesan Centre for Lay Apostolate from 1991 to 1994. There he launched the publication of booklets of daily scriptural reflections for the faithful: ''Daily Flash'' and ''Jivitacho Prokas''. His other assignments included Convenor of the Team for Transfers of Priests from 1992 to 1997; Ecclesiastical Advisor to St. Luke's Medical Guild, Goa, from 1992 to 1994, and Episcopal Vicar for the North Zone of the Archdiocese, from 1993 to 1994. He is fluent in Konkani, English, Portuguese, Italian,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Bishop and archbishop

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

appointed him auxiliary bishop of Goa and

Daman Daman may refer to: place Places *Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, a union territory in India **Daman and Diu, former union territory of India, now part of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu **Daman district, India ***Daman, India ...

and

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

Vanariona Vanarion ( la, Vanarionensis, link=no) is a historic and titular diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The seat of the bishopric was a Roman town called Vanarion, founded in the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, which has been tentativel ...

on 25 January 1994. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 April 1994 from Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonçalves in the

Se Cathedral The Sé Catedral de Santa Catarina, known as Se Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Latin Rite Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and the seat of the Patriarch of the East Indies. It is part of the World Heritage Site, Churches and c ...

Old Goa Old Goa ( Konkani: ; pt, Velha Goa, translation='Old Goa') is a historical site and city situated on the southern banks of the River Mandovi, within the Tiswadi ''taluka'' (''Ilhas'') of North Goa district, in the Indian state of Goa. The ...

, with bishops Aleixo das Neves Dias and

Ferdinand Joseph Fonseca Ferdinand Joseph Fonseca (December 2, 1925 – October 2, 2015) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Ordained to the priesthood in 1954, Fonseca was named auxiliary bishop for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay, India India, officially ...

as co-consecrators. On 16 January 2004, Pope John Paul named him Archbishop of Goa and Daman with the honorary title of

Patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in ce ...

of the

East Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and aroun ...

. He was installed as archbishop on 21 March 2004. On 25 November 2006, the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman was reorganized as a

metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis religious jurisdiction, or a metropolitan archdiocese, is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces ...

with a suffragan diocese and no longer directly subject to the Holy See.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

named Ferrão its first archbishop.

Cardinal

On 29 May 2022, Pope Francis announced that he planned to make Ferrão a cardinal. On 27 August 2022, Pope Francis made him a

cardinal priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

, assigning him the title of

Santa Maria in Via ::''This Church is not to be confused with the Church of Santa Maria in Via Lata, a Deaconry.'' Santa Maria in Via is a basilica church in Rome. The church or a chapel existed in the 9th century, but was rebuilt following reports of a miracle ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrao, Filipe Neri 1953 births People from North Goa district Patriarchs of the East Indies 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in India 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India Living people Pontifical Urban University alumni Indian cardinals Cardinals created by Pope Francis