Francis Serrao to be installed as new Bishop of Mysore on Oct. 7

Francis Serrao, the newly appointed Bishop of Mysore, will be installed at a ceremony to be held at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, also known as St. Philomena’s Church, on Ashoka Road here on October 7.

The installation ceremony, scheduled to be held at 4.30 p.m., will be officiated by the Archbishop of Bangalore Peter Machado. It will be followed by a felicitation programme under the presidency of Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Leopoldo Girelli. The occasion will also mark the farewell to Bernard Moras, the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Mysore, who had been shepherding the Diocese since January 2023.

This announcement was made at a press conference held by Mr. Moras and senior representatives of the Diocese of Mysore at the Bishop House on Nelson Mandela Road in Bannimantap on Saturday.

A press statement here said Bishop Francis Serrao, who is presently the Bishop of Shimoga, was born on August 15, 1959, in Moodbidri, and is the youngest of eleven children in a devout family with five of his brothers serving as priests and one sister as a nun.

“Ordained a priest on April 30, 1992, he devoted himself to social apostolates among Dalit and tribal communities in Anekal (Bangalore Archdiocese) and Mundgod (Karwar Diocese). He also taught theology to Jesuit seminarians and later served as the Rector of St. Aloysius College, Mangalore,” the statement said, while pointing out that he had been appointed as Bishop of Shimoga on March 19, 2014.

Terming the ceremony as a “historic moment” and a “new chapter” in the journey of faith and service for the Catholic community in the region, the statement said that the Mysore Mission traces its origins to 1658, when Italian Jesuit missionary Fr. Leonardo Cinnami arrived in Mysore and was received by King Narasaraja Wodeyar I.

“The king granted him permission to preach the Gospel and establish a Christian settlement, thus laying the foundation for the Catholic presence in Mysore. This early phase was marked by small communities of faith, pastoral care, and service to the poor,” the statement said.

“In 1850, the Vicariate of Mysore was created, and in 1886, with the establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in India, the Vicariate became the Diocese of Mysore, with its seat in Bangalore. In 1940, the Diocese of Mysore was created by bifurcating Bangalore and making it into a separate diocese. Hence, though it was created in 1886, the present Diocese of Mysore was established in 1941. Over time, as the mission grew, the diocese gave birth to several other dioceses, including Bangalore, Ootacamund, Chikmagalur, and Shimoga, each carrying forward the missionary zeal of Mysore,” the statement said.

“The present Diocese of Mysore comprises the four civil districts of Mysuru, Mandya, Kodagu, and Chamarajanagar. It has over 1.2 lakh Catholic population in 90 parishes, 128 priests, several religious men and women serving in the Diocese,” according to the statement.