>Billjones94 at 10:48, 30 July 2021

2021-07-30T10:48:47Z

New page

{{Short description|Association of the Catholic bishops of India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Distinguish|Conference of Catholic Bishops of India}}
{{Infobox Organization
|name = Catholic Bishops' Conference of India
|image = CBCI_logo_small.png
|image_border =
|caption = CBCI logo
|map =
|msize =
|mcaption =
|abbreviation = CBCI
|motto = United in Witness
|formation = {{start date and age|September 1944}}
|extinction =
|type = Permanent association of bishops
|status = Civil nonprofit
|purpose = To support the ministry of bishops
|headquarters = [[New Delhi]]
|location =
|region_served = [[India]]
|membership = Active and retired Catholic bishops of India
|language =
|general = Archbishop [[Felix Anthony Machado]]
|leader_title = President
|leader_name = Cardinal [[Oswald Gracias]]
| leader_title2 = Vice President I
| leader_name2 = Bishop Joshuah Ignatheos
| leader_title3 = Vice President II
| leader_name3 = Archbishop Mar [[George Njaralakatt]]
| leader_title4 =
| leader_name4 =
|main_organ =
|parent_organization =
|affiliations = [[Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences]]
|num_staff =
|num_volunteers =
|budget =
|website = {{URL|cbci.in}}
|remarks =
}}

The '''Catholic Bishops' Conference of India''' or '''CBCI''' is the permanent association of the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishops]] of India.<ref name=AboutCBCI /> It was established in September 1944, in [[Chennai]]. The CBCI Secretariat was located in [[Bangalore]] until 1962, when it was shifted to the national capital, [[New Delhi]]. 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]] as prescribed in canon 447 of the [[1983 Code of Canon Law]]; 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]].

Pope [[John Paul II]] in a letter in 1987 directed the three rites 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 rite deals with internal issues.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1987/07/15/pope-john-paul-ii-settles-problems-of-easternrite-catholic-migrants&post_id=35496 |title=pope john paul ii settles problems of easternrite catholic migrants |publisher=ucanews.com |date=1987-07-15 |accessdate=2015-08-31}}</ref><ref name="newstatutes">{{cite web|url=http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1996/02/28/bishops-approve-new-statutes-that-accommodate-greater-lay-participation&post_id=7103 |title=bishops approve new statutes that accommodate greater lay participation |publisher=ucanews.com |accessdate=2015-08-31}}</ref>

The statutes of the CBCI were approved by the [[Holy See]] on 21 April 1976.<ref>2015 [[Annuario Pontificio]]</ref> The statutes were revised in 1996 by the CBCI.<ref name=newstatutes />

==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 [[Roman Catholicism in India|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.<ref name="AboutCBCI">{{cite web |url=http://cbci.in/About-CBCI.aspx |title=About Catholic Bishops' Conference of India |publisher=Cbci.in |accessdate=2015-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614235238/http://www.cbci.in/About-CBCI.aspx |archive-date=14 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cbci.in/rbc.aspx |title=Catholic Bishops' Conference of India |publisher=Cbci.in |accessdate=2015-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014030840/http://cbci.in/rbc.aspx |archive-date=14 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Episcopal bodies of the three rites===
* [[Conference of Catholic Bishops of India]] (CCBI) from [[Latin Church]]
* The Most Holy Episcopal Synod of [[Syro-Malabar Church]]
* The Most Holy Episcopal Synod from [[Syro-Malankara Catholic Church]]

===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]] (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]] (1958–1972)
*[[Mar Joseph Parecattil]] (1972–1976)
*[[Lawrence Picachy]], [[Society of Jesus|S.J.]] (1976–1982)
*[[Simon Pimenta]] (1982–1988)
* Aboon Mor [[Benedict Gregorios]], [[Order of the Imitation of Christ|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]], [[Order of the Imitation of Christ|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)<ref name="daiji-4mar2010"/>
* Moran Mor [[Baselios Cleemis]] (11 February 2014 - 9 February 2018)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-02-12/kochi/47268710_1_cardinal-cleemis-mar-cleemis-syro-malankara-catholic-church |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140216154434/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-02-12/kochi/47268710_1_cardinal-cleemis-mar-cleemis-syro-malankara-catholic-church |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-02-16 |work=[[The Times of India]] |title=Cardinal Cleemis elected new CBCI president |accessdate=2015-08-31}}</ref>
*[[Oswald Gracias]] (9 February 2018 - present)

==National centres==
* [[Caritas (charity)|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

==See also==
*[[Catholic Church in India]] 
*[[List of Catholic bishops of India]]

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="daiji-4mar2010">{{cite web
|url=http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=73247&n_tit=CBCI+Elects+Cardinal+Oswald+Gracias+as+New+President
|title=CBCI Elects Cardinal Oswald Gracias as New President
|date=4 March 2010
|publisher=[[Daijiworld Media]]
|accessdate=2010-03-10}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cbci.in CBCI] official website
*[http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/conference/054.htm CBCI] at GCatholic.org
*[http://www.caritasindia.org/ Caritas India]
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Episcopal conferences|India]]
[[Category:Catholic Church in India]]

Catholic Bishops' Conference of India - Revision history

>Billjones94 at 10:48, 30 July 2021