ASIA/INDIA - The Pope accepts resignation of Bishop of Berhampur and appoints Successor

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI on 27 November 2006, accepted the renunciation of the pastoral government of the diocese of Berhampur (India), presented by Bishop Joseph Das, in conformity with the Code of Canon Law, can. 401 § 1.
The Holy Father appointed Bishop of Berhampur (India) Rev. Sarat Chandra Nayak, chancellor of the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar.
The Bishop elect was born on 1 July 1957, in the village of Kerubadi, in the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar, Orissa State. He went to St. John Vianney Minor Seminary in Barasat, Kolkata, and then studied philosophy and theology at Morning Star College, Barrackpore, Kolkata. He was ordained on 25 April 1990, for the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar and has since ministered as follows: 1990-1995: assistant and then parish priest at Godapur; 1992-1995: dean of Bamunigam and archdiocesan vocations’ delegate; 1995-1997: Studies for a Licentiate in Canon Law at St. Peter's Pontifical Institute di Bangalore; 1997-1998: spiritual director and head of English languages courses at St. Paul's Minor Seminary, Padampur; professor of spirituality; 1998-1999: Defender of the Bond at the Marriage Tribunal; 1999: dean of Cuttack deanery and adviser to CCBI Commission for Canon Law and Legislative Texts;1999-2000: Visiting Professor of Canon Law at the Regional Theologate, Sason, Diocese of Salbampur; 2000-2004: Studies for a doctorate in Canon Law at Urban University, in Rome. Since 2004 judicial vicar at Orissa Ecclesiastical Tribunal. Since 2005: chancellor of the archdiocese