Fr Pius James D’Souza
II Definitor • Karnataka Goa Province (India)
Fr. Pius James was born 11 July 1966 in Mangalore (India). He made his First Profession 3 July 1986 and was Solemnly Professed 31 May 1992. He was ordained a Priest 27April 1994.
After completing his Philosophy and Theology studies in India, he obtained a Licence in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He went on to get a Diploma in Linguistic Studies at Harvard University (USA) and a Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. He was awarded a Gold Medal for Studies in English Literature by Mysore University (India).
After his ordination, he was appointed Formation Director of Seminarians and served as a Parish Priest for a year in the Bangalore Diocese. From 2011 to 2014, he was Rector of the Major Seminary in Mangalore and from 2014 to 2017 was appointed Director of the Spirituality Institute in Ryshivana (India). He was First Counsellor of his OCD Province from 2017 to 2020. In the meantime (2012 to 2020), he was also the Episcopal Vicar for Religious in the Mangalore Diocese before being elected Provincial of the Karnataka Goa Province in July 2020.
Fr. Pius taught Sacred Scripture courses in different Seminaries and Biblical Institutes in India and was a member of the Biblical Commission for the New Living Translation of the Bible. He has also written various articles on Scripture and Spirituality and is the author of two volumes on the Psalms.