Gracias is new Archbishop of Mumbai

MUMBAI: Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday appointed Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Agra as the new Archbishop to the Metropolitan See of Bombay.

The largest archdiocese in India had been vacant since May 20 when its Cardinal Ivan Dias was elevated as the Red Pope and took charge as prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican.

"It is an opportunity to serve God, the Christian community and the country," the archbishop said on Saturday.

"My priority will be to work towards shedding the ghetto image of Christians and to integrate them into the mainstream, to work for the poorest of the poor irrespective of caste, creed and colour," he said over phone from Agra, where he has been the archbishop for over six years.

"I will strive to build bridges of peace and bring about religious harmony and reconciliation between various faiths," the 61-year-old prelate, who was Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay for nine years, said.

"With superlative skills in providing solutions to conflicts of various kinds in the Dioceses and among priests and religious congregations, he played a stellar role as Papal Visitor in India," Father Anthony Charanghat, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay said.

"We are thrilled to get back our own bishop now elevated as archbishop and we will extend full cooperation," Dolphy D'souza, president of the Bombay Catholic Sabha and vice president of All Indian Catholic Union, said.

The Archdiocese of Bombay has 550,000 Catholics spread over 98 churches in three districts, served by 750 priests, 1,530 nuns, and running 129 schools and colleges.