Church leaders in India have welcomed the election of Cardinal Poola Anthony, a member of the socially marginalised Dalit community, as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), calling it a historic milestone.
The 64-year-old archbishop of Hyderabad was chosen to lead the CBCI during its 37th General Body Meeting on 7 February in Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore). He becomes the first Dalit to head the national body representing bishops from India’s three Catholic rites, Latin, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara, succeeding Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, who served the previous four years.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Daltonganj said Cardinal Poola’s election marks a significant step in addressing “discrimination and inequality within the Catholic Church.” He added that having a Dalit lead the bishops’ conference “sends a strong message to Christians of Dalit origin that the Church honours the dignity of every individual.”
John Dayal, spokesperson for the All India Catholic Union, noted that Poola’s leadership offers the Church an opportunity to follow through on its 2016 Dalit empowerment policy, which condemned caste discrimination as a “grave social sin.” He highlighted the disparity in representation, pointing out that only around 12 of India’s 180 bishops, about 6.7 per cent, are Dalit, even though Dalit and tribal Catholics make up over 60 per cent of the country’s Catholic population.
Historically, only one tribal bishop, Cardinal Telesphore P. Toppo (1939-2023), has led the CBCI, serving two terms from 2004 to 2008. Dalit priests and nuns remain a small fraction of the clergy and religious communities.
Father Francis P. Xavier, rector of Loyola Institutions in Chennai, observed that Dalit Catholics, many of whom converted from Hinduism, have long hoped for justice and equality but still face caste-based exclusion, including segregated spaces within churches and separate cemeteries. He said Cardinal Poola’s election “confirms that Dalits are equally capable and deserving of leadership roles in the Church.”
Jesuit Father Prakash Louis, former director of the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, called the election “an effort to correct the historical injustice of caste discrimination,” while rights activist Father Cedric Prakash from Gujarat described it as “historic,” urging the cardinal to engage with Dalit Christians and other marginalised Catholics.
Born on 15 November 1961, Cardinal Poola became a priest at 30, was appointed bishop of Kurnool in 2008, and became archbishop of Hyderabad in 2020. Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal in 2022. He studied theology at Loyola University Chicago and served at St. Genevieve Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Original reporting by UCA News, rewritten for this publication.
