Felix Toppo

Felix Toppo S.J. (born 21 November 1947) is an Indian prelate of the Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Ranchi from 2018 to 2023. He was Bishop of Jamshedpur from 1997 to 2018.

He is a member of India's indigenous tribal people, like his predecessor as Archbishop of Ranchi, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo. The two are not related.

Biography He was born on 21 November 1947 in Tongo, in the Diocese of Gumla in Jharkhand.

He joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1968. He was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus on 14 April 1982. Within the Jesuits he has at times been director of pre-novices, novice master and superior.

He chaired the CBCI Office for Clergy and Religious and headed the National Vocation Service Centre in Pune for four years. (The publisher is attached to Dharmaram College, "a pontifical athenaeum of theology, philosophy and canon law based in Bangalore".) He was installed there on 6 August. That same month, he confronted civil authorities, controlled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, when they initiated investigations of Catholic NGOs accused of "proselytization activities through inducement". He said no specifics were provided and complained that "nothing of the sort happens with pro-Hindu organizations". He said the probes were designed to divide the Catholic and Hindu within the tribal population in advance of elections. In December he praised the government for protecting tribal land rights by denying the right to purchase tribal lands to the non-tribal husband of a tribal woman.

As of 2018, he chaired the governing body of the Society for Medical Education, North India, of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), He was chairperson of the Regional Bishops' Council of Jharkhand and Andaman. He was also vice-chancellor of St. Albert's College, Ranchi, the region's major seminary.

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 30 December 2023.