Panaji, Feb 22 (PTI) Archbishop of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao has been elected as the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (FABC), a church official said on Thursday.

In a media statement issued here, Father Barry Cardozo, Director of Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, said Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao will succeed Cardinal Charles Muang Bo, head of the Catholic Church in Myanmar, in January 2025 after the latter completes his three-year term as head of the Asian Church.

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"It is with great joy that the Church in Goa has received the news that our beloved Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao, the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, has been elected the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC). The election was held on February 22 during the three-day FABC Central Committee Meeting that took place in Thailand capital Bangkok," Cardozo said.

Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David of Kalookan, Philippines, was elected the vice president, while Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kilkuchi of Tokyo, Japan, was elected for a second term as the secretary general of the Federation, the statement added.

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Currently, Cardinal Ferrao is president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), the national body of the Bishops of the Latin Rite.

"The FABC comprises Episcopal Conferences in South, Southeast, East and Central Asia. The Federation, which was founded in 1970, is a Vatican-approved association of Episcopal Conferences in Asia," Cardozo said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)