Valerian Gracias was an Indian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.
15 Facts About Valerian Gracias
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Valerian Gracias served as Archbishop of Bombay from 1950 until his death and was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1953 by Pope Pius XII.
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Valerian Gracias studied at St Patrick's High School in Karachi, St Joseph Seminary in Mangalore, and the Pontifical Seminary of Kandy in Ceylon, where he obtained his doctorate in theology.
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Valerian Gracias finished his studies at the Gregorian in 1929 and became private secretary to Archbishop Joachim Lima SJ and diocesan chancellor of Bombay.
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Valerian Gracias served as a preacher and pastor, and as the editor of various newspapers before being named the first Indian rector of Mumbai's Holy Name Cathedral in December 1941.
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Valerian Gracias demonstrated his support of Goan nationalism and an opponent of Portuguese colonial rule by presented an image of the Virgin Mary as an indigenous Indian, at a time when the populace was still accustomed to European representations.
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Valerian Gracias was made Cardinal-Priest of S Maria in Via Lata in the consistory of 12 January 1953.
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Valerian Gracias was one of the 51 cardinal electors in the 1958 papal conclave and one of the 80 in the conclave of 1963.
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Valerian Gracias attended the Second Vatican Council, where he was one of 21 Council participants to present the closing messages of the Council on 8 December 1965.
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Valerian Gracias hosted the first papal visit to India in 1964, when Pope Paul VI attended the International Eucharistic Congress in Bombay, preceded by a symposium of Catholic theologians to which he invited Hans Kung.
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Valerian Gracias later said that Pope Paul VI's Bombay visit inspired his encyclical Populorum progressio.
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Valerian Gracias fell ill in May 1978 and did not participate in the conclave of August 1978.
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Valerian Gracias died from cancer in Bombay 11 September 1978 at age 77.
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Valerian Gracias was buried in Holy Name Cathedral in Mumbai.
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Valerian Gracias was awarded the Padma Vibhushan award, second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, on 26 January 1966.