Mumbai, India, Oct 18, 2007 / 09:13 am
One of the "most simple and approachable" Catholic leaders in India has been chosen for the cardinalate by Pope Benedict XVI.
Archbishop Oswald Gracias, of the Archdiocese of Bombay, was the only Asian among the 23 newly designated cardinals. The Archdiocese of Bombay, which includes India's commercial center Mumbai, contains over half a million Catholics.
His predecessor as archbishop of Bombay, Cardinal Ivan Dias, moved to Rome in 2006 to serve as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The 62 year-old cardinal-designate served six years as archbishop of Agra, the oldest diocese in northern India. He currently heads the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, the national body of the country's Latin-rite bishops. A two-time president of the Canon Law Society of India, he also teaches canon law at two Catholic seminaries.