The Most Rev. Dr. Albert D'Souza was installed as Archbishop of Agra on April 11,
2007. He had been Bishop of Lucknow for 13 years. Having taken charge of the
Archdiocese, he began his mission work ardently. He was elected for three consecutive
terms as the CBCI Secretary General and guided the reorganizing and restructuring
of the CBCI Centre. Some of his achievements till 2020 December are as follows:
A. Renovation of the Cathedral and Church of Pieta (Akbar's Church): Under the guidance of Rev. Fr.
John Ferreira, and the then Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Joe Thykkattil, the Cathedral was given a facelift.
The Akbar's Church was renovated and renamed as the Church of Pieta.
B. St. Albert's Monastery: The Archbishop had a great desire of having a monastery in the Archdiocese for
prayer and spiritual renewal for the priests and religious. The land adjacent to St. Francis Xavier's
Regional Seminary (Masih Vidyapeeth), Etmadpur, was identified for the monastery. On August 3, 2014,
the building was blessed. Later it was converted into a Cloistered Poor Clare Colettines - PCC Convent
in 2018.
C. New Religious Communities: The men and women religious communities of different Congregations joined
hands with the Archdiocese in the last one decade, namely: Satyaseva Community, Agra; CFMSS Sisters,
Bastar; PSOL Sisters, UPSIDC, Firozabad; MSMM Sisters, Dholpur; FCC Sisters, Nanpur; FSAG Sisters,
Kiraoli; SHM Sisters, Kaulakha; CCR Sisters, Kheda Khush Khabar; FSJ (Provincilate) Sisters, Etmadpur;
OP Sisters, KNEUS, G. Noida; FSM Sisters, Fatehabad; UMI Sisters, Jaupura; FSLG Sisters, Ansal
Township, Agra; MSST Sisters, G. Noida; Cloistered Collettines, Etmadpur; MSA Sisters, Pilipokhar;
FDZ Sisters, Sadabad; FSLG Sisters, Gulaothi; FSMA Sisters, Runkuta; SSS Fathers, Noida; OCD Fathers,
Ladamda, Agra, IMS Fathers of Delhi Province; Franciscan Brothers; SFSC Sisters in Greater Noida.
D. The New Institutions: Jesus and Mary Convent School, G. Noida; Alpha Play School, Mathura; St. John's
School, UPSIDC, Firozabad; Alphonsa Institute for Special Education, Agra; St. Xavier's School,
Dholpur; St. Peter's School, Kiraoli; St. Thomas School, Shastripuram;
St. Clare's School, Unit II, Kaulakha; St. Mary's School, Achalpur; St. Fidelis School, Kheda Khush
Khabar;
St. John Paul II School, Fatehabad; St. Francis School, Sadabad and St. Peter's School, Rohta, Agra.
E. A Few Churches that have come up are: Fatima Church, Ajay Nagar; St. Michael's Church, Anup Nagar;
St. Jude's Church, Kaulakha; Our Lady of Rosary Church, Bastar; Nishkalanka Mata Church, Jaith and St.
Joseph's Church, G. Noida.
F. Land Purchased during the tenure of the Archbishop: Kheda Khush Khabar, Aligarh; Imlot, Aligarh;
Bulandshahr; Shastripuram, Sunari, Jaupura, Rohta, Kaulakha, Kiraoli, Agra; Aduki, Mathura; Jaith
Village; Bastar Village; Achalpur; Sadabad and Fatehabad.
G. Vianney Home: A home for the retired priests was built under the guidance of Rev. Fr. Sebastian Pantaladi.
H. The extension of the buildings: The extension of New Hall for refectory with accomodation capacity
for 70 people was undertaken under the guidance of Rev.
Fr. Sebastian Pantaladi. An auditorium was built as an extension for the Minor Seminary. Expansion of
KNEUS building at Greater Noida, Yoga Hall and Auditorium at St. Peter's College, Agra.
He exhibited his love for the poor by launching housing schemes for the homelsess and sponsored scholarships
for higher education and professional training. He started
St. Joseph's Kitchen to provide free ration to the hungry through the funding of Caritas Agra. The headquarters
of Non-formal education of Archdiocese Agra, ACDSS, was relocated in the new campus-'Ashirwad'.
The amalgamation of institutional finances and centralized administration have enabled the Archdiocese to
pool the resources and channelize the funds on priority basis. Kudos to Archbishop Albert D'Souza for his
determination and foresightedness. His episcopacy ended in December 2020.