By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: Father Nicholas Barla on July 3 took over as the new secretary of the Office for Tribal Affairs under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
The 55-year-old Divine Word priest has replaced Jesuit Father Stanislaus Tirkey, who held the post for the past eight years, says a press note from CBCI deputy secretary general Monsignor Joseph Chinnayyan.
Father Barla, a graduate in law and business administration, is a native of Sambalpur in Odisha, eastern India. For the past 24 years, he was engaged in various issues, affecting the lives of the tribal people in Odisha, especially in Rourkela and Sambalpur.
The CBCI Standing Committee approved his appointment at its meeting in Bengaluru, southern India, in early May.
Father Barla took charge at a function held at the CBCI Centre, New Delhi, on July 3 morning. Besides Monsignor Chinnayyan, Salesian Father Joseph Manipadam, secretary of CBCI Office for Education and Culture; Sister Talisha, secretary of CBCI Council for Women; Sr. Rani of the CBCI Office for Labour and other CBCI Office attended the function.
Father Tirkey, who completed his CBCI term on June 30, 2017, took over as the superior of the Campion Jesuit community as well as director of Xavier Institute of Social Action in Raipur, capital of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.