His Grace Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of his Priesthood on Wednesday, December 6, 2017 with a Holy Mass at 5.00 p.m. at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral, St John’s Road, Bengaluru. All are welcome to participate in this celebration to greet the Archbishop and to pray for him for his good health and successful pastoral service. We join the Archbishop in thanking God for all the Blessings he has so generously received during the past 50 years. 

Several Bishops, Priests, Religious and lay persons will be part of the celebration. Presently His Grace is the Archbishop of Bangalore, President of the Karnataka Regional Catholic Bishops’ Council (KRCBC), President of All Karnataka United Christian Forum of Human rights, Member of the Governing Council of St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, and Member of the Standing Committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). And He is also the Member of the Pontifical Council for Health Care in Vatican since 2008.

Dr. Bernard Moras was born at Kuppepadavu, Mangaluru, on August 10, 1941. After his early studies in his parish, he did his graduation from Karnataka University, his Ecclesiastical Studies in St Joseph’s Seminary, Mangaluru, and his Diploma in Hospital Administration and Personal Management, New Delhi. He also holds Diploma in Pastoral Care in Hospitals.

He was ordained a Priest on December 6, 1967. On December 31, 1996, he was appointed Bishop of Belgaum, and later he was appointed as Archbishop of Bangalore on July 22, 2004. He received his Pallium (A Symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to a Metropolitan Archbishop by the Holy See) in Rome on June 29, 2005 from the hands of Pope Benedict XVI.

As the Spiritual Head of the Catholic Community of the Archdiocese of Bangalore and Karnataka, Archbishop Bernard Moras has initiated several works both spiritual and temporal. As a spiritual leader, he built several parishes and institutions to deepen People’s spiritual experience and to help them acquire secular knowledge. He has been instrumental in promoting inter-religious unity and harmony and ecumenism. He has organized and participated in the religious festivals of other religions. He has promoted the vernacular culture by establishing a separate Commission to publish books in Kannada. He has been Administrator of the two prestigious Catholic Medical Colleges and Hospitals, namely St John’s in Bangalore and Fr Muller’s at Mangalore, and contributed much to their development. His initiative in the educational ministry has helped to the opening of new schools, Pre University Colleges and a Degree College. Through his vision the ASHA Charitable Trust was founded to educate hundreds of poor Rural and Urban children. In his service to eradicate poverty and to uplift the downtrodden, various social schemes and projects have been started in the Archdiocese of Bangalore and throughout Karnataka,

On this happy occasion when Archbishop Dr. Bernard Moras celebrates the Golden Jubilee of his Priesthood, we, the members of the Archdiocese and people of Karnataka, greet him warmly and pray that the Almighty God may grant our beloved Pastor good health and strength to continue Christ’s mission of service for the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people, especially of the poor and the needy in Bangalore and in Karnataka.