Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Udupi, India, presented by Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo.
The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Leslie Clifford D’Souza, until now parish priest of Our Lady of Health in Udupi, as bishop of the diocese of Udupi.
Msgr. Leslie Clifford D’Souza was born on 19 August 1962 in Yermal, in the diocese of Udupi, Karnataka. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Distant Education) from Mysore University. After studying philosophy at Saint Joseph’s Interdiocesan Seminary in Mangalore and theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University of Rome, he was awarded a licentiate and a doctorate in moral theology from the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
He was ordained a priest on 10 May 1990. He was incardinated in the diocese of Mangalore and subsequently that of Udupi.
He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest of Holy Rosary, Kundapur, Udupi (1990-1992), deputy parish priest of Holy Cross, Kulshekar, Mangalore (1992-1995); professor of moral theology at Saint Joseph’s Interdiocesan Seminary in Mangalore (2003-2010), parish priest of Saint John the Evangelist, Pangala (2010-2017), parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary, Kallianpur (2017-2023), parish priest of Our Lady of Health, Shirva, and dean of the deanery of Shirva (since 2023).
He is a member of the diocesan Presbyteral Council, and a lawyer at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal. (Agenzia Fides, 31/1/2026)
