(UCAN): Asian bishops elected Felipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao of India as the new president of their federation and Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Philippines as vice president.
The central committee of the Federation of Bishops Conferences of Asia that met in Bangkok on February 22 also re-elected Archbishop Tarcisius Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo as secretary general for a second term.
The term of office of all three will begin in January 2025, Archbishop Kikuchi said in a social media post.
Cardinal Ferrão of Goa, in western India, will replace Charles Maung CardinalBo of Yangon as president and David will replace Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith as vice president.
Cardinal Ferrão is the president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, the body of the Latin rite bishops in India.
Bishop David heads the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
The federation is a voluntary association of 17 conferences and two synods of Oriental Churches in Asia. It was established with the approval of the Vatican five decades ago.
