The Holy Father Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Bishops of Vasai and Allahabad as members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID). The PCID is the central office of the Catholic Church for promoting interreligious dialogue in accordance with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.
Felix Anthony Machado, Archbishop of Vasai and Raphy Manjaly, Bishop of Allahabad were among 20 whom Pope Francis named as Members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
The PCID is the central hub for dialogue in the Catholic Church. However, dialogue is often carried out at the local level by individual churches, many of which are supported by regional or national dialogue commissions. The PCID works closely to support these commissions and encourages their formation in areas where they do not yet exist.
The PCID undertakes a range of activities that support its work of promoting mutual understanding between Catholicism and other religions. It welcomes visitors to Rome, it visits others, runs meetings and participates in many more. It publishes a bulletin called Pro dialogo three times a year, containing “significant Church texts on dialogue, articles, and news of dialogue activities throughout the world” as well as an Inter religious Dialogue Directory.
In a congratulatory note, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) welcomed the appointments of Archbishop Felix Anthony Machado, Secretary General, CBCI and of Bishop Raphy Manjaly, Member Bishop of CBCI Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism by the Holy Father as members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Rome.
The other are the Cardinals Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples among the Members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Dieudonné Nzapalainga, Archbishop of Bangui; Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, Apostolic Vicar of Vientiane; Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo, Archbishop of Jakarta and Military Ordinary for Indonesia; Jean-Claude Höllerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg; and Michael Czerny, Sub-Secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for the Integral Human Development Service; and Ecc.mi Monsignori Lawrence Huculak, Archbishop of Winnipeg of the Ukrainians; George Frendo, Archbishop of Tiranë-Durrës; Mark Tin Win, Archbishop of Mandalay; Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille; Paul Yoshinao Otsuka, Bishop of Kyōto; Thomas Chung An-zu, Archbishop of Taipei; Ambrogio Spreafico, Bishop of Frosinone-Veroli-Ferentino; Michael Joseph McKenna, Bishop of Bathurst; William Hanna Shomali, Titular Bishop by Lidda; Denis Chidi Isizoh, titular Bishop of Legia; Patrick Joseph McKinney, Bishop of Nottingham; James Massa, Titular Bishop from Bardstown; Paul Desfarges, Archbishop of Alger; and Joseph Đình Đúc Đao, Bishop of Xuân Lôc.
Hearty Congrats to my former seminary professor Bp. Felix Machado who is an expert in Inter-Religious Dialogue & Bishop Raphy Manjaly at the new assignment among the team of Pontifical Commission for Inter-religious Dialogue.