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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Archbishop
| honorific-prefix = [[The Most Reverend]]
| name = Felix Toppo
| honorific-suffix = [[Society of Jesus|S.J.]]
| title = [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi|Archbishop of Ranchi]]
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| church = [[Roman Catholic Church]]
| archdiocese = Ranchi
| diocese =
| see = Ranchi
| appointed = 24 June 2018
| term_start = 6 August 2018
| predecessor = [[Telesphore Toppo]]
| successor =
| other_post =

| ordination = 14 April 1982
| ordained_by =
| consecration = 27 September 1997
| consecrated_by = [[Telesphore Toppo]]
| cardinal =
| rank =

| birth_name = Felix Toppo
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1947|11|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Tongo, [[India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality =
| residence =
| previous_post = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur|Bishop of Jamshedpur]] (1997-2018)
| alma_mater = [[Pontifical Gregorian University]]
| coat_of_arms =
| motto = ''Adveniat regnum tuum'' }}

'''Felix Toppo''' [[Society of Jesus|S.J.]] (born 21 November 1947) is an Indian [[prelate]] of the [[Catholic Church]] who has been the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi|Archbishop of Ranchi]] since 2018. He was [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur|Bishop of Jamshedpur]] from 1997 to 2018.

He is a member of India's indigenous [[Adivasi|tribal people]], like his predecessor as Archbishop of Ranchi, Cardinal [[Telesphore Toppo]]. The two are not related<ref name=crux>{{cite news | work = Crux | access-date = 19 May 2019 | url = https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2018/08/07/new-archbishop-installed-in-indias-troubled-jharkhand-state/ | date = 7 August 2018 | title = New archbishop installed in India’s troubled Jharkhand state | first = Nirmala |last= Carvalho}}</ref>

== Biography ==
He was born on 21 November 1947 in Tongo, in the [[Diocese of Gumla]] in [[Jharkhand]].<ref name=ccbi>{{Cite web|url=http://ccbi.in/bp-felix-toppo-appointed-as-the-archbishop-of-ranchi/|title=Bp. Felix Toppo Appointed as the Archbishop of Ranchi |publisher= Conference of Catholic Bishops of India |date= 24 June 2018 | access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref><ref name=sj>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jcsaweb.org/jesuit-bishop-felix-toppo-new-archbishop-ranchi|title=Jesuit Bishop Felix Toppo is the New Archbishop of Ranchi | publisher = Jesuit Conference of South Asia|date= 25 June 2018| access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>

He joined the [[Society of Jesus]] (Jesuits) in 1968. He was ordained a priest for the [[Society of Jesus]] on 14 April 1982. Within the Jesuits he has at times been director of pre-novices, novice master and superior.<ref name=ccbi/><ref name=sj/>

He earned a master's degree in psychology from the [[Pontifical Gregorian University|Gregorian University]], Rome, in 1990.<ref name=ccbi/><ref name=sj/>

[[Pope John Paul II]] appointed him [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur|Bishop of Jamshedpur]] on 14 June 1997. He received his episcopal consecration from Cardinal [[Telesphore Toppo|Telesphore Placidus Toppo]] on 27 September 1997. Toppo was the first tribal to head the Diocese.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 19 May 2019 |work=UCA News| url = https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1997/10/28/episcopal-ordinations-prove-churchs-sociocultural-maturity |date= 28 October 1997 | title = Episcopal Ordinations Price Church's Socio-Cultural Maturity}}</ref>

He chaired the CBCI Office for Clergy and Religious and headed the National Vocation Service Centre in [[Pune]] for four years.<ref name=sj/>

In 2016, in an essay he contributed to a volume on gender and justice, he wrote that the Church's patriarchal structure had immediate consequences for women: "In the Church men traditionally are given the authoritative and leadership positions and women, religious or lay, are assigned generally to subservient roles rather than to decision making positions."<ref name=patri>{{cite news | work = National Catholic Reporter | url = https://www.ncronline.org/books/2017/08/patriarchy-not-nature-makes-women-unequal | access-date = 19 May 2019 | date= 14 June 2017 | title = Patriarchy, not nature, makes women unequal | first = Joshua J. | last = McElwee}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = Gender Justice in the Church and Society: Papers of the Second DVK National Seminar on Moral Theology | publisher =Dharmaram Publications | date= 2016 | editor-first =Shaji George |editor-last = Kochuthara}}</ref>{{efn|The publisher is attached to [[Dharmaram College]], "a pontifical athenaeum of theology, philosophy and canon law based in Bangalore".<ref name=patri/>}}

On 24 June 2018 [[Pope Francis]] named him [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Ranchi|Archbishop of Ranchi]].<ref name=ccbi/><ref>{{cite press release | access-date = 19 May 2019 | date =24 June 2018 | title = Rinunce e nomine, 24.06.2018 | language = it | url = http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2018/06/24/0480/01044.html| publisher = Holy See Press Office}}</ref> He was installed there on 6 August.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ranchi/felix-toppo-is-ranchi-archbishop/articleshow/65305561.cms|title=Felix Toppo is Ranchi archbishop |work=The Times of India|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref> That same month, he confronted civil authorities, controlled by the Hindu nationalist [[Bharatiya Janata Party]], when they initiated investigations of Catholic NGOs accused of "proselytization activities through inducement". He said no specifics were provided and complained that "nothing of the sort happens with pro-Hindu organizations". He said the probes were designed to divide the Catholic and Hindu within the tribal population in advance of elections.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 19 May 2019 | url = https://www.ucanews.com/news/bishops-cry-foul-as-indian-police-probe-church-agencies/83062 | work = UCA News | date= 14 August 2018 | title = Bishops cry foul as Indian police probe church agencies}}</ref> In December he praised the government for protecting tribal land rights by denying the right to purchase tribal lands to the non-tribal husband of a tribal woman.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 19 May 2019 | work = UCA News | date= 11 December 2018 |title=Indian state to stem tribal marriage land scams | url = https://www.ucanews.com/news/indian-state-to-stem-tribal-marriage-land-scams/84077}}</ref>

As of 2018, he chaired the governing body of the Society for Medical Education, North India, of the [[Catholic Bishops' Conference of India]] (CBCI),<ref name=sj/> which built a hospital to provide care for the tribal people and the poor.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 19 May 2019 |language= it| url = https://news.gesuiti.it/e-un-gesuita-il-nuovo-vescovo-di-ranchi/ | work = Gesuiti News | date= 26 June 2018| title = E’ un gesuita il nuovo vescovo di Ranchi}}</ref> He was chairperson of the Regional Bishops' Council of Jharkhand and Andaman. He was also vice-chancellor of St. Albert's College, Ranchi, the region's major seminary.<ref name=sj/> Within the [[Conference of Catholic Bishops of India]], he was one of three members of the Commission for Vocations, Seminarians, Clergy and Religious.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jamshedpurdiocese.org/bishop.html|publisher =Catholic Diocese of Jamshedpur| access-date=6 October 2018 | title = Bishop Felix Toppo}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}



{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= India}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toppo, Felix}}
[[Category:Jesuit archbishops]]
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Bishops appointed by Pope Francis]]
[[Category:21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in India]]
[[Category:Pontifical Gregorian University alumni]]
[[Category:Adivasi people]]

Felix Toppo - Revision history

>WikiCleanerBot at 16:16, 18 April 2021