Rev. Dr. Leslie Clifford D'Souza named new Archbishop of Udupi Diocese
Udupi: Pope Leo XIV has appointed Rev. Dr. Leslie Clifford D’Souza as the new Archbishop of the Udupi diocese. He is currently serving as the priest of the Our Lady of Health Church in Shirva.
The appointment was officially announced in Rome on January 31 at 12 noon (4.30 pm IST) and simultaneously at the Milagres Cathedral in Kalyanpur, Udupi district.
Rev. Dr. Leslie began his education at Saraswati Mandir Senior Secondary School, Uchila (1969–1976), followed by his secondary education at Government Fisheries High School, Yermal (1976–1979). He completed his pre-university studies at Purna Prajna College (1979–1981).
He pursued priestly formation at St. Joseph’s Inter-Provincial Seminary, Mangaluru, where he studied philosophy and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Mysore (1982–1985). He later earned a Bachelor’s degree in Theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome (1986–1990).
Rev. Dr. Leslie holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Mysore (1991–1993) and a Diploma in Depth Psychology and Formation from the Bangalore Institute of Psychology and Training (1993–1995). He further completed a Licentiate in Theology (1997–1999) and a Doctorate in Moral Theology (1999–2003) at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Mangalore on May 10, 1990. His priestly ministry began as an assistant priest at Holy Rosary Church, Kundapura (1990–1992), and later at Holy Cross Church, Kulasekara, Mangaluru (1992–1995).
He served as a professor and formator in moral theology at St. Joseph’s Inter-Provincial Seminary, Mangaluru (1995–1997), and continued as a visiting professor until 2013.
Rev. Dr. Leslie later served as parish priest of St. John the Evangelist Church, Pangla/Shankarpur (2010–2017), and Mount Rosary Church, Kalyanpur–Santekatte (2017–2022). During this period, he also held the responsibility of coordinator of educational institutions.
Since June 2022, he has been serving as parish priest of Shokamata Church, Shirva, and as coordinator of Don Bosco and St. Mary’s educational institutions. He has also played a key role in the administration and governance of the Diocese of Udupi.
He served as Secretary of the Council of Priests from 2022 to 2025 and currently holds multiple responsibilities, including Principal Religious Teacher of the Shirva Zone, Advocate of the Diocesan Tribunal of Udupi, and member of the Advisory Board (2023 to present).
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
