Fr Simião named Auxiliary Bishop of Goa archdiocese

Staff Reporter

Panaji

Rev Fr Simião Purificação Fernandes has been appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman by Pope Francis.

Hailing from Chandor, he is presently the director of the Pastoral Institute St Pius X at Old Goa and the convenor of the Committee for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.

The appointment was made public in the Vatican on Saturday at 3.30 pm. The new Auxiliary Bishop will be assisting Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão in shepherding the flock.

The Bishop-elect was born on December 21, 1967 in Chandor to Victor Fernandes and Ana Santana Costa, both deceased. Ordained priest on May 10, 1993 after his seminary studies in the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, he obtained a licentiate in sacred scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and a doctorate in biblical theology at the Jnana Deepa Pontifical Athenaeum in Pune.

He worked as an assistant parish priest in the parishes of Aldona and Taleigão and as a parochial administrator in the parishes of Marcela and São Pedro.

For most part of his priestly life, he was involved in organisation of some of the key apostolates in the Goa and Daman archdiocese, as secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Liturgy, joint secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Biblical Apostolate and coordinator of the Apostolate of Ecumenism. At the same time, he taught sacred scripture and pastoral theology at the Seminary of Rachol.

While continuing as the director of the Pastoral Institute, where a year’s programme of pastoral enrichment for deacons is being conducted, he was also, more recently, appointed as the convenor of the coordinating team for the diocesan phase of the Synod 2023-2024 and as a member of the committee for the solemn exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier.

He has been carrying out all his challenging responsibilities with great competence and sense of commitment, said the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media.

It is with joy that the archdiocese of Goa and Daman hailed the appointment of Rev Fr Simião Purificação Fernandes as its auxiliary bishop.

“With hearts uplifted in thanksgiving, we, the clergy, the religious and the faithful of this archdiocese, extend our warmest felicitations to Fr Simião and pray that God’s grace may accompany him in all his future endeavours, granting him wisdom, courage and compassion, as he takes on the mantle of an Auxiliary Bishop,” Cardinal  Ferrão said.

“Mindful that Bishop-elect Simião has been an acknowledged guiding force in the ongoing Synodal journey of the Church in Goa, we welcome him joyfully, ready to ‘journey together in communion, participation and mission’,” the Cardinal added.