Filipe Neri Ferrão

His Eminence

Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão
Ferrão in 2006
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
ArchdioceseGoa and Daman
Appointed16 January 2004
PredecessorRaul Nicolau Gonçalves
Other post(s)
Previous post(s)
Orders
Ordination28 October 1979
Consecration10 April 1994
by Raul Nicolau Gonçalves
Created cardinal27 August 2022
by Pope Francis
RankCardinal priest
Personal details
Born (1953-01-20) 20 January 1953 (age 71)
Mapuçá, Goa, Portuguese India, Portuguese Empire
MottoTim sogllim ek zaum
(Konkani for 'That they may all be one')
Styles of
Filipe Neri Ferrão
Reference styleHis Eminence
Spoken styleYour Eminence
Informal styleCardinal

Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão (born 20 January 1953) is an Indian Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Goa and Daman since 2004. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese from 1993 to 2004. Ferrão was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2022.

Ferrão is the sixth prelate of Goan origin to attain the rank of cardinal and the first Archbishop of Goa and Daman to be a cardinal since an episcopal see was established there in 1557.[1][2]

Biography

Early life and education

Ferrão was born on 20 January 1953 in Mapusa, Goa, to Agostinho Lourenço Tomé Ferrão and Maria Palmira Eugênia Gertrudes da Conceição Nazaré; he is the youngest of their three children.[3][a] After completing the Preparatory Course at the Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligao-Pilerne, Goa, he went to study philosophy and theology at the Papal Seminary, Pune. Ferrão was ordained a priest on 28 October 1979.[4] His pastoral assignments were: Parochial Vicar at Salvador do Mundo in 1979 and in Chinchinim from 1981 to 1984; Prefect of Discipline at the Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligão-Pilerne, from 1984 to 1986, where he was also Director of the Vocation Commission for Diocesan Clergy.[5]

Ferrão then studied at the Pontificia Universitas Urbaniana, obtaining a licentiate degree in Biblical Theology in 1988, and then in Brussels at the International Institute Lumen Vitae, earning a licentiate degree in catechetics and pastoral theology in 1991.[4]

Returning to Goa, he was the first director of the Diocesan Centre for Lay Apostolate from 1991 to 1994.[5] There he launched the publication of booklets of daily scriptural reflections for the faithful: Daily Flash and Jivitacho Prokas.[citation needed] His other assignments included Convenor of the Team for Transfers of Priests from 1992 to 1997; Ecclesiastical Advisor to St. Luke's Medical Guild, Goa, from 1992 to 1994, and Episcopal Vicar for the North Zone of the Archdiocese, from 1993 to 1994.[5]

He is fluent in Konkani, English, Portuguese, Italian, French and German.[5]

Bishop and archbishop

Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão during St. Francis Xavier Feast Mass

Pope John Paul II appointed him auxiliary bishop of Goa and Daman and titular bishop of Vanariona on 25 January 1994. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 April 1994 from Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonçalves in the Se Cathedral in Old Goa, with bishops Aleixo das Neves Dias and Ferdinand Joseph Fonseca as co-consecrators.

On 16 January 2004, Pope John Paul named him Archbishop of Goa and Daman with the honorary title of Patriarch of the East Indies.[6] He was installed as archbishop on 21 March 2004.[7]

On 25 November 2006, the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman was reorganized as a metropolitan archdiocese with a suffragan diocese and no longer directly subject to the Holy See. Pope Benedict XVI named Ferrão its first archbishop.[8]

Cardinal

On 29 May 2022, Pope Francis announced that he planned to make Ferrão a cardinal.[9] On 27 August 2022, Pope Francis made him a cardinal priest, assigning him the title of Santa Maria in Via.[10]

In February 2024, Ferrão was elected President of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences replacing Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, Myanmar.[11]

On 23 October 2024, the Synod of Bishops elected Ferrão a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod.[12]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ There were several priests among his relations, including two maternal uncles, two paternal uncles, and four in earlier generations.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Filipe Neri Ferrao: After 465 years, archdiocese of Goa gets its first cardinal". Times of India. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Pope makes Archbishops Filipe Neri, Anthony Poola cardinals". Matters India. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b Raposo, Caetano Francisco (20 August 2022). "From a miracle to Cardinal: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrâo". Herald (Goa). Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Annuncio di Concistoro il 27 agosto per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali, 29.05.2022" (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d "Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão". Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. Archived from the original on 9 September 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 16.01.2004" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 16 January 2004. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Ferrao installed Archbishop of Goa and Daman". 21 March 2004. Retrieved 31 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Rinunce e Nomine, 25.11.2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Annuncio di Concistoro il 27 agosto per la creazione di nuovi Cardinali, 29.05.2022" (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Assegnazione dei Titoli e delle Diaconie ai nuovi Cardinali" [Assignment of Titles and Deaconries to the new Cardinals]. The Holy See (in Italian). Ufficio delle Celebrazioni Liturgiche del Sommo Pontefice. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  11. ^ Carvalho, Nirmala (24 February 2024). "Asia elects new leaders for continental Bishops' Conference". Crux (online newspaper). Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Synod elects new members to Ordinary Council". Vatican News. 24 October 2024. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
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