Bishop William D'Souza Appointed Archbishop Of Patna

NEW DELHI, OCT. 01, 2007: Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Most Rev. Benedict J. Osta, SJ, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Patna and has appointed Bishop William D’Souza, SJ, as the Archbishop of Patna.

Presently, Bishop William D’Souza is the Bishop of Buxar in Bihar.

The ecclesiastical provision was made public in Rome on Monday, Oct. 01, 2007 at noon local time, corresponding to 15.30 hours Indian time.

William D'Souza SJ was appointed Bishop of the newly erected diocese of Buxar on Dec. 12, 2005. He consecrated Bishop on March 25, 2006 with Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio in India as the main consecrator.

Bishop William D'Souza, a Jesuit of the Province of Patna, was born in 1946, ordained priest in 1976 after completing Philosophy in Shembanagur in Tamil Nadu and theology in Jnana Deepa Vidyapeet in Pune.

During his rich and fruitful priestly ministry he was assistant Novice Master, superior of Jesuit communities in various places, Rector of the Minor Seminary in Muzaffarpur, parish priest in several parishes, secretary to the Bishop of Muzaffarpur and Provincial of the Patna Jesuit Province.

He was also the Administrator of Muzaffarpur diocese for a year. He was the parish priest of Itarhi in the district of Buxar at the time of his appointment as bishop.

The metropolitan Archdiocese of Patna comprises of Bettiah, Bhagalpur, Buxar, Muzaffarpur and Purnea as suffragan dioceses. (CBCI)

Also See:
William D'Souza to be consecrated Buxar Bishop on 25th March 2006