Mumbai's prestigious St Xavier's College will be headed by a non-priest for the first time in its 146-year history. Agnelo Menezes, a well known professor of economics at the institution, will take over from Father Frazer Masceranhas and be at the helm of affairs in a fortnight. Founded in the year 1869, the College has always had a Jesuit priest as its principal.
Menezes comes from humble roots, being the son of a clerk who also worked as a carpenter at St Paul's Church in Dadar, and grew up in the chawls of Parel in central Mumbai.
A similar move was also reported in another Jesuit institution, St Stanislaus, a 152-year-old school in Bandra, which will also have its first non-Jesuit principal Anna Correa as the supervisor.
