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 Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

in 1953 by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

Biography

Valerian Gracias was born in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

(in modern

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

), to José (d. 1902) and Carlota Gracias. His parents were from Dramapur/ Navelim, Goa, working in Karachi. He studied at St. Patrick's High School in Karachi, St. Joseph

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Mangalore Mangaluru (), formerly called Mangalore ( ), is a major industrial port city in the Indian state of Karnataka and on the west coast of India. It is located between the Laccadive Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bengaluru, the st ...

, and the Pontifical Seminary of

Kandy Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where he obtained his doctorate in theology.

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 3 October 1926, The interview is conducted in English. Gracias then did

pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...

work in Bandra until November 1927, when he entered the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He finished his studies at the Gregorian in 1929 and became private secretary to Archbishop Joachim Lima SJ and

diocesan chancellor In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

. He served as a preacher and pastor, and as the editor of various newspapers before being named the first Indian rector of Mumbai's Holy Name Cathedral in December 1941. On 16 May 1946, he was appointed

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of Bombay and Titular bishop of Thennesus. Gracias received his episcopal consecration on the following 29 June from Archbishop Thomas Roberts SJ, with Bishops Victor Fernandes and Thomas Pothacamury as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

promoted him to Archbishop of Bombay on 4 December 1950 to replace Roberts, a 57-year-old Englishman, who made way for the appointment of a native-born Indian. Gracias demonstrated his support of Goan nationalism and an opponent of Portuguese colonial rule by presented an image of the Virgin Mary as an indigenous Indian, at a time when the populace was still accustomed to European representations. On 29 November 1952 Pope Pius XII announced he would create 24 new cardinals, increasing the size of the College of Cardinals to 70 members, its maximum at the time. When one of those Pius named died on 28 December, the Vatican announced on 29 December that Gracias would be made a cardinal, the first from India. He was made

Cardinal-Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. ...

of S. Maria in Via Lata in the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of 12 January 1953. Gracias was considered to be a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

. The Portuguese government denied reports that it was displeased with the honor bestowed upon Gracias. He was one of the 51 cardinal electors in the 1958 papal conclave and one of the 80 in the conclave of 1963. He attended the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

(1962–1965), where he was one of 21 Council participants to present the closing messages of the Council on 8 December 1965. He hosted the first papal visit to India in 1964, when Pope Paul VI attended the International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, preceded by a symposium of Catholic theologians to which he invited Hans Küng. He later said that Pope Paul VI's Bombay visit inspired his encyclical '' Populorum progressio'' (1967). In 1970 he was one of 15 prelates chosen to organize the 1971 Synod of Bishops, and he supported Pope Paul against critics of his approach to church governance and insistence of priestly celibacy. From 1954 to 1972, he was President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India and in 1972 helped overcome Vatican skepticism and win Pope Paul's approval of the formation of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. He fell ill in May 1978 and did not participate in the

conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

of August 1978. Gracias died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

11 September 1978 at age 77. He was buried in Holy Name Cathedral in Mumbai. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award, second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, on 26 January 1966.

References

Sources

* *

External links

Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church

Audio recording with Valerian Gracias
in the Online Archive of the Österreichische Mediathek Retrieved 27. March 2021 {{DEFAULTSORT:Gracias, Valerian Cardinals created by Pope Pius XII 1900 births 1978 deaths St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Indian cardinals 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India Participants in the Second Vatican Council Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in social work Religious leaders from Karachi Pontifical Gregorian University alumni