Vincent Conçessao

Vincent Michael Conçessao (born 28 September 1936) is a prominent Indian Catholic (Latin Rite) clergyman who was installed as the fifth Archbishop of Delhi in November 2000. He served as Vice President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India from 2000 to 2004. At the same time he was Rector of Pratiksha, the residence of seminarians studying at the Vidyajyoti College of Theology. He also served as the president of the Catholic Priests' Conference of India. In 1991 Conçessao was appointed parish priest of the Sacred Heart Cathedral, New Delhi, and in 1993 was elected Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Delhi. After Archbishop of Delhi Alan Basil de Lastic died Bishop Vincent was transferred back to Delhi and installed as its fifth Archbishop on 19 November 2000.

Archbishop Vincent participates in several inter-religious and multi-religious organizations. Between 2000 and 2004 he was Vice President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. Other positions include President of the National United Christian Forum, President of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conference (F.A.B.C) Office for Evangelization, President of the Regional Bishops' Conference of northern Region, Working President of the Foundation for Religious Harmony and Universal Peace and President of the Holy Family Hospital.

Archbishop Vincent has been critical of the government for failing to prevent discrimination against Christians of Dalit origin based on their religion. He has said that the communal forces attacking Christians use a methodology borrowed from the Nazis, "spreading false accusations, creating an atmosphere of suspicion and hostility and then having recourse to violence to frighten the people to change their religion".

Following large-scale violent attacks on Christians in Orissa, Karnataka and other states in 2008, Concessao said the attacks were not spontaneous but had been carefully organized after years of preparation by groups interested in spreading Hindutva. He accused Chief Ministers such as Naveen Patnaik of Orissa of failing to do the minimum to protect the citizens of his state. He called for a ban on Bajrang Dal and the closely related Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). However, he said this seemed unlikely since he had the impression that there was collusion between the Karnataka government controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Bajrang Dal and the VHP.

Talking of the practice of Swiss banks in hiding illegal money, including that of Indians evading taxes, Concessao has said Europe "is bankrupt as regards to moral values which are so important to the Catholic Church". He proposed that Indian Catholics should help re-evangelize Europe.