Church leaders in India have welcomed Pope Francis asking Cardinal Oswald Gracias to continue as the Bombay archdiocese. “It is good news. We welcome the cardinal’s extension as the Archbishop of Bombay,” Bishop Allwyn D’Silva told Matters India on January 28, responding to the Pope’s decision.

Cardinal Gracias had on November 30, 2019, submitted to the Pope in person his resignation from the archbishop’s post as he was to complete 75 years on Dec. 24 the same year.

A letter from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to Cardinal Gracias says the “Holy Father has asked you to continue ‘donec aliter provideatur (until other provision is made).”

The congregation’s on Dec. 6 letter expresses its gratitude to the cardinal for what he is doing for the service of the Church in Mumbai, in India and the Universal Church. “Permit me to add my own personal esteem and affection,” said Cardinal Filoni Fernando, prefect of the Vatican congregation.