1. Oswald Gracias was born on 24 December 1944 and is an Indian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Bombay from 2006 to 2025.
23 Facts About Oswald Gracias
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Oswald Gracias was born in Bombay to Jervis and Aduzinda Oswald Gracias.
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Oswald Gracias completed his school studies at St Michael's School in Mahim and joined college at the Jesuit St Xavier's College, Mumbai.
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Oswald Gracias was ordained to the priesthood by Valerian Oswald Gracias on 20 December 1970.
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Oswald Gracias attended the Pontifical Urbaniana University from 1976 to 1982; he obtained a doctorate in canon law, a diploma in jurisprudence.
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Oswald Gracias taught as a visiting professor in the seminaries of Bombay, Poona, and Bangalore.
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Oswald Gracias was president of the Canon Law Society of India.
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On 28 June 1997, Oswald Gracias was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay and Titular Bishop of Bladia by Pope John Paul II.
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Oswald Gracias has served as secretary of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, which comprises several rites, and as president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, the organization of the Latin Church.
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On 20 February 2008 Oswald Gracias was elected 1st vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India of which had earlier served as secretary general.
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On 18 September 2008 in Washington, DC, Oswald Gracias underwent surgery for a rare form of cancer.
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Oswald Gracias was elected secretary general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences by the presidents of its 19 constituent bishops conferences representing 28 Asian countries.
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On 12 June 2012 Oswald Gracias was appointed a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
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On 18 September 2012, Oswald Gracias was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to serve as a synod father for the October 2012 Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization.
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Oswald Gracias was mentioned as a possible candidate for election to the papacy in the 2013 conclave.
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Oswald Gracias was one of the cardinal electors who participated in that conclave, which elected Pope Francis.
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Oswald Gracias was elected to a two-year term as president of the CBCI on 9 February 2018.
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Oswald Gracias had submitted his resignation as required in anticipation of his 75th birthday.
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On 17 February 2020, Oswald Gracias was elected to a second two-year term as president of the CBCI.
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Oswald Gracias delivered an address to priests in 2018 to commemorate Pope Paul VI's papal encyclical Humanae Vitae.
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Cardinal Oswald Gracias has suggested that the pathway to married priests is still an open possibility; during the 2019 Synod of Bishops the cardinal suggested in his intervention that following present canon law could present possibilities for married men to be ordained to the priesthood, mentioning that special dispensations could be granted.
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In February 2020, Oswald Gracias stated that "human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception", pointing out that "the Church has been unwavering in its protection of the sanctity of human life, from conception until natural death".
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In March 2011, Oswald Gracias expressed his relief at the Indian Supreme Court's decision to reject the plea for the mercy killing of a nurse who was in a semi-comatose condition for over three decades.