Filipe Neri Ferrao: After 465 years, archdiocese of Goa gets its first cardinal

PANAJI: In a historic moment for Goa, Pope Francis has picked Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao as one of 21 new cardinals, who will be elevated on August 27 at the Vatican. Ferrao thus became the first-ever archbishop of Goa to elevated to the cardinalate in 465 years, and is only the sixth person of Goan origin to attain the rank.


The 69-year-old prelate will travel to Rome for the occasion, and is also expected to participate in the two-day talks on the Vatican’s new constitution, which will be rolled out in June.

Ferrao is one of two Indian prelates — the other being archbishop of Hyderabad Anthony Poola — to be elevated on Sunday, taking the total number of Indian cardinals to six.

“It is with great pride and joy that we would like to inform that Archbishop Filipe Neri Antonio Sebastiao di Rosario Ferrao — archbishop of Goa and Daman — has been chosen by Pope Francis to be made a cardinal,” Diocesan Centre for Social Communications and Media director Fr Barry Cardozo said.

When TOI reached out to the archbishop’s office for a statement, the office said that Ferrao is on leave and unavailable for comment.

At present, the Catholic Church has four serving Cardinals in India — Cleemis Catholicos (Trivandrum), Telesphore Toppo (Ranchi), Oswald Gracias (Mumbai), and George Alencherry (Ernakulum).

In keeping with recent trends, many of the new Cardinals come from far-flung dioceses, where Catholics are a distinct minority. The other prelates hail from France, Brazil, Philippines, Mongolia, Paraguay, Nigeria, Timor Oriental and Italy, upholding the pontiff’s tradition of focusing on the peripheries when looking for additions to the college of cardinals.

Given Ferrao’s age, he will be able to participate in the conclave that will eventually find Pope Francis a successor.

The “red hats”, as they’re often called due to the color of their zucchetto (skullcap), also serve as key papal advisers, with those under 80 quickly being appointed as members of Vatican offices and councils.

The first Indian cardinal, Valerian Gracias, was also of Goan origin with roots in Dramapur, Navelim. Born in Karachi, he studied at the seminary of Kandy in Sri Lanka and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Bombay in 1926.

Ferrao hails from Aldona, but is not the first person from the village to be named as a ‘prince of the Church’. That honour goes to Karachi’s Joseph Coutts, who was among the 14 new Cardinals appointed in July 2018.

The tiny coastal state of Goa, where Catholics account for less than a fourth of the population, has played a significant role in the Church’s growth in India and Pakistan. Pakistan’s first ‘prince of the Church’, Joseph Cordeiro, hailed from Salvador do Mundo.

Mumbai’s Ivan Dias was the third Goan-origin bishop to be appointed Cardinal, and though he was born in Mumbai, his roots were in Velsao. Oswald Cardinal Gracias, the present Archbishop of Bombay, traces his roots to Orlim.

The tiny state of Goa, where Catholics account for less than a fourth of the population, has played a significant role in the Church’s growth in India and Pakistan. The Archdiocese of Goa was set up in 1557. Now, 465 years later, it has got its first Cardinal.




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