Pope Francis has appointed 57-year-old Rev Fr Simião Purificação Fernandes as the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. The appointment was made public in the Vatican on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at 12 noon (3.30 pm IST).
Bishop-elect Simião Purificação Fernandes was born in Chandor, Goa on December 21, 1967, to Victor Fernandes and Ana Santana Costa, both deceased.
Ordained priest on May 10, 1993, after his seminary studies in the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and a Doctorate in Biblical Theology at the Jnana Deepa Pontifical Athenaeum in Pune.
He worked as an Assistant Parish Priest in Aldona and Taleigão and as a Parochial Administrator in the parishes of Marcela and São Pedro.
For the most part of his priestly life, he was involved in the organisation of some of the key apostolates in the Archdiocese, as Secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Liturgy, Joint Secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Biblical Apostolate and Coordinator of the Apostolate of Ecumenism.
At the same time, he taught Sacred Scripture and Pastoral Theology at the Seminary of Rachol. He is presently the Director of the Pastoral Institute St Pius X at Old Goa and the Convenor of the Committee for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.
While continuing as the Director of the Pastoral Institute, where a year’s programme of Pastoral Enrichment for Deacons is being conducted, he was also, more recently, appointed as the Convenor of the Coordinating Team for the Diocesan Phase of the Synod 2023-2024 and as a Member of the Committee for the Solemn Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier.
Commenting on the appointment, Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao, said, "The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman hails the appointment of Fr. Simião as its Auxiliary Bishop. With hearts uplifted in thanksgiving, we, the clergy, the religious and the faithful of this Archdiocese, extend our warmest felicitations to Fr Simião and pray that God’s grace may accompany him in all his future endeavours."
"Mindful that the Bishop-elect Simião has been an acknowledged guiding force in the ongoing Synodal journey of the Church in Goa, we welcome him joyfully, ready to ‘journey together in communion, participation and mission,’” he said
