Thomas Ignatius MacWan

Archbishop Thomas Ignatius Macwan^{[1][2][3][4][5]} is the current archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar.^[6][7]

The Most Reverend Thomas Ignatius Macwan
Archbishop of Gandhinagar
Archdiocese	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar
See	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar
Appointed	12 June 2015
Installed	12 September 2015
Predecessor	Stanislaus Fernandes, S.J.
Previous post(s)	Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad
Orders
Ordination	9 April 1988
Consecration	11 January 2003 by Archbishop Stanislaus Fernandes, S.J.
Personal details
Born	(1952-10-14) 14 October 1952 (age 72) Bhavnagar Gujarat
Nationality	Indian
Residence	Archbishop's House, Sector 8, Gandhinagar 382 008. Gujarat
Motto	CALLED TO DO GOOD

Styles of Thomas Ignatius Macwan
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor
Posthumous style	not applicable

Early life

Bishop Thomas was born on 14 October 1952 in Bhavnagar, Gujarat.^[3]

Priesthood

Thomas was ordained a Catholic priest on 9 April 1988.^[6]

Episcopate

Thomas was appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ahmedabad on 11 November 2002 and ordained Bishop on 11 January 2003. He was appointed Archbishop of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gandhinagar on 12 June 2015 and installed on 12 September 2015 by Pope Francis.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Controversy

During the 2017 campaign for Gujarat Assembly elections, Archbishop MacWan issued a letter to the Christian community suggesting that they pray for the election of "humane leaders", to "save" India "from nationalist forces".^[12] The Legal Rights Observatory lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India against the archbishop. The Election Commission served a notice to the archbishop, asking for an explanation.^[13]