Pope Benedict XVI on Monday appointed three new Indian bishops, the Vatican said in a statement.Devprasad John Ganawa, became bishop of Jhabua district and Arockia Sebastian Durairaj became bishop of Khandwa in central Madhya Pradesh state.
Ganawa was previously rector of the Verbite Centre in Udaipur district, in northwestern Rajasthan, India's largest state.
He was born in Panchkui in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1982.
Durairaj was previously superior of the Verbite province of central India. He was born in Thirunagar in India's southern Tamil Nadu state in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1985.
The Vatican asked Indian archbishop Thomas Menamparampil to write reflections on the plight of minority Christians in India.
It was read aloud by the Pope last month during the Easter way of the cross ceremony which depicts Christ's final hours leading up to his crucifixion.
Attacks by suspected Hindu extremists on Christians and their churches in the eastern Indian state of Orissa last year left at least 35 people dead.
The violence also spread to other states, including the western coastal state of Karnataka, a state on India's west coast, where at least 11 churches were destroyed.
India is officially secular but most of its one billion-plus citizens are Hindu.
Christians make up about 2.5 percent of the population and Muslims, 13.4 percent.
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