new coadjutor archbishop for Mumbai

Originally from the same metropolis in India, Bishop John Rodrigues had been in charge of the diocese of Pune since last year, after having been auxiliary bishop for ten years to Card. Oswald Gracias, who will turn eighty years old on December 20. As of January 25, it will accompany him with the right to succession. He comes from a family where the widowed mother accompanied her three sons to the priesthood.

Vatican City () – Pope Francis has chosen as the new coadjutor archbishop of Mumbai, the great metropolis of India, Mons. John Rodrigues, 57, a prelate originally from this same city of which he was auxiliary bishop for ten years and who since March 2023 headed the diocese of Pune, in the same State of Maharashtra. The pontiff appointed him coadjutor archbishop, and he will accompany Card with the right of succession. Oswald Gracias, metropolitan of Mumbai since 2006 and representative of Asia in the Cardinal Council, who will turn eighty on December 20 and will no longer be included in the list of possible members of a future conclave.

Contemporaneously with the announcement made today by the Vatican Press Office, the archdiocese of Mumbai also released a note through which “the bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful warmly welcome the Reverend John Rodrigues upon his return to the archdiocese.” “. It was also announced that “he will take office on January 25, 2025 and will reside in the archiepiscopal house.”

Monsignor John Rodrigues was born in Mumbai on August 21, 1967, where he was also ordained a priest in 1998 by the then Archbishop Ivan Dias, to whom he was private secretary for a time. He then perfected his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Lateran University, obtaining a degree in Dogmatic Theology, a subject he taught in Indian seminaries. He was named auxiliary bishop and ordained in 2013 by the same Card. Thank you. During his tenure as auxiliary bishop, he also served as rector of Mount Mary Basilica in the Bandra neighborhood. On March 25, 2023, Francis entrusted him with the direction of the diocese of Pune, which he headed until today.

A few years ago, Monsignor Rodrigues had told the particular story of his family: the new coadjutor archbishop of Mumbai is the son of a woman who was widowed with three sons, who later became priests. The elder brother, Fr. Luke is a Jesuit while Fr. Savio is also a priest of the Archdiocese of Mumbai.

“It was thanks to the example of our mother Corinne Rodrigues, who always reminded us of the presence of God, creating an atmosphere of prayer in our home and building links with other priests, that we felt the call to religious life,” Mons told Juan Rodríguez in 2017. The woman, who died in 2000, was a former teacher and actively participated in charitable initiatives of the Archdiocese of Mumbai, collaborating in various charitable works. One of them is the “Hope and Life Movement”, a support group for widowed women. Corinne was also a widow, but the suffering of the loss of her beloved husband did not prevent her from transmitting the values ​​of the Gospel and love for the Lord to her children.

His older brother, Fr. Lucas Rodríguez, shared with the joy at the news of his brother’s appointment as coadjutor archbishop of Mumbai. “John has always been a brilliant person – he says – but above all a person focused on serving God and his people. His episcopal motto ‘Building up the Body of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:12) points precisely to this. “We are proud and pray for him, so that he can fulfill God’s will in Mumbai.”