NEW DELHI, India — On accepting the resignation of Cardinal Oswald Gracias as Archbishop of Bombay, Pope Francis elevated Coadjutor Bishop John Rodrigues as his successor of the archdiocese in South India.
According to archdoocesan spokesperson Father Nigel Barrett, Cardinal Gracias, who turned 80 on December 24, 2024, had submitted his resignation five years ago, but it was officially accepted only now by the pope.

Gracias' successor, Bishop Rodrigues, has been the archdiocese’s coadjutor bishop since November 30 with his installation as taking place at Saint Thomas Cathedral in Mumbai two days ago.

On acceptance of his resignation, Gracias expressed gratitude to his collaborators in the archdiocese and also acknowledged the Pope’s paternal care and God’s protection that helped him guide the archdiocese.

On the one hand, his successor is known for deep knowledge, competence, experience and holiness of life.

He hailed Cardinal Gracias as “a giant of a man, and now as his successor I have mighty big shoes to fill.”
Archbishop Rodrigues was born on August 21, 1967, to Stanley Rodrigues and Corinne at Bandra, a suburb of Mumbai. His two elder brothers are priests, one of them a Jesuit. His father died in 1975 and his mother was a leader of the Marriage Encounter movement and founded a charity to support widows.

After his ordination on April 18, 1998, he studied at the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome, and earned a licentiate in systematic theology. He was named rector of St Pius X College, but became the auxiliary bishop within a few weeks. He has also served the archdiocese as secretary of the priests’ council from 2010 to 2013 and as coordinator for the Year of Faith in 2013-2013.