Dr Stephen Alathara
New Delhi, Nov 29: Fr Edward Baretto has been appointed coadjutor bishop of Darjeeling by Pope Leo XIV. The announcement was made on Friday. Fr Baretto, 60, is currently the judicial vicar of the diocese and the coordinator of its diocesan commissions.
Fr Baretto was born on January 5, 1965, in Alampuri in Bantwal taluk of the Mangaluru diocese. He received his early education at St Thomas Higher Primary School in Nirkan and continued his studies at Milagres High School, Mangaluru. He joined the John XXIII Minor Seminary in Darjeeling in 1982.
He studied philosophy at Morning Star College, Barrackpore, and later served his regency in Nimbong and Kalimpong. He returned to Morning Star College for theology and was ordained a deacon on October 10, 1992. He was ordained a priest on March 25, 1993, at Sacred Heart Church, Lolay.
Following ordination, Fr Baretto served as assistant director of the minor seminary in Darjeeling and took charge of the diocesan newsletter, Tea Leaves. He completed his master's in philosophy at Jnana Deepa, Pune, and went on to teach philosophy at Morning Star College. Further studies in canon law at St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary, Bengaluru, shaped his later ministry. In 2004, he was appointed judicial vicar for both Darjeeling and Bagdogra dioceses.
Over the years, he served in various parishes, including Our Lady of Lourdes Church at Liza Hill and Mary Mother of God Church at Relli Road, Kalimpong. In 2022, he became director of the Divya Vani Pastoral Centre in Darjeeling. He is also the secretary to the commissions of liturgy and canon law. Since July 2025, he has been the coordinator of the diocesan commissions.
The Diocese of Darjeeling was established on August 8, 1962, when the Darjeeling district was separated from the Archdiocese of Calcutta and combined with the Apostolic Prefecture of Sikkim-Kalimpong. In 1997, the Siliguri region was carved out to form the Diocese of Bagdogra. The Darjeeling diocese currently covers the districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong, the entire state of Sikkim, and the Kingdom of Bhutan.
The diocese has 47,823 Catholics, 73 parishes, 107 priests, and 116 men and 128 women religious. Bishop Stephen Lepcha, 72, has been leading the diocese for the past 28 years.
Catholic roots in Darjeeling trace back to October 10, 1846, when the Irish Loreto Sisters arrived in the hills, soon after Darjeeling was opened as a hill station in 1835. The region was discovered in 1828 by Captain Lloyd and J W Grant and was later gifted to the British by the Chogyal of Sikkim.