Jhabua: More than 3,000 people attended the ordination of Divine Word Father Basil Bhuriya as the bishop of Jhabua diocese in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio Monday, who led the ordination ceremony on October 10, stressed the need to speak out against injustice and oppression trusting in God’s providence. He reminded the gathering that a bishop is appointed not to rule or seek honors, but to serve the poor and downtrodden.
He also urged priests of the predominantly tribal diocese to cooperate with the new bishop with the spirit of communion and cooperation.
“We need to come out of ourselves and serve the poor and downtrodden in joy and gladness,” the nuncio added.
The Vatican ambassador also asked people to follow the example of Pope Francis, who is setting new trends in Christian leadership.
The ceremonies were held at Meghnagar, 17 km north of Jhabua town in Madhya Pradesh.
The episcopal ordination ceremony began at 9:30 am with the procession from the bishop’s house with local tribal dance.
During the Mass Pope’s letter to ordain Father Bhuriya was read out to the people.
After his homily, the nuncio anointed the bishop-elect’s head with sacred chrism oil and handed over a copy of the Bible to proclaim the word of God with unfailing patience and sound teaching. The nuncio then placed a ring on the priest’s right hand to symbolize his fidelity to the Church and commitment to protect it from all adversities.
The nuncio placed the miter on the new bishop as the sign of his holiness and handed him the pastoral staff to guide the people entrusted to him.
Archbishops Leo Cornelio of Bhopal and Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur along with the 15 other bishops blessed the new prelate.
The newly ordained bishop then continued Mass in Hindi. The choir sang hymns in Bhil language. Nearly 300 priests and some 100 nuns also attended the ceremonies that included an hour-long felicitation program.
Bishop Bhuriya is the second prelate from Bhil, one of the major tribal groups in central India. The first is Bishop Devprasad Ganawa of Udaipur, Rajasthan.
Pope Francis appointed Father Bhuriya as the bishop of Jhabua, on July 18.
He was the parish priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church of Thandla, a parish under Jhabua diocese, at the time of his appointment He took charge of the parish six years ago. He was also a member of the Provincial Council of the Society of Divine Word.
The diocese was without a bishop since December 12, 2012 when Bishop Ganawa was transferred to Udaipur.
The bishop-elect was born March 8, 1956, in Panchkui parish of Jhabua. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Pune. He became a full-fledged member of the Society of the Divine Word in 1985. He was ordained a priest on May 5, 1986.
He began his priestly mission as the assistant parish priest of Muvalia in Baroda diocese in Gujarat.
He was vice rector of St Thomas Seminary in Indore for four years from 1988. He then became the rector of the same seminary and held the post for five years until 1997.
Jhabua diocese was created in 2002 as the suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bhopal. Spread over an area of 21,366 square kilometers the diocese has nearly 39,000 Catholics in a population of 5.8 million.
It has 30 parishes, served by 68 priests (46 diocesan and 22 religious), 26 religious brothers, 211 nuns and 36 seminarians.