By Matters India Reporter

Shillong, October 18, 2019: The funeral of Archbishop Dominic Jala will be held at 1 pm on October 23 at Mary Help of Christian Cathedral, Laitumkhrah in Shillong, capital of Meghalaya state.

Archbishop Jala’s body will arrive on October 20 at Guwahati airport, according to a press note issued by Father John Madur, the archdiocesan administrator.

On the way to Shillong, the body will be taken to Guwahati Don Bosco Provincial House, Byrnihat Parish, Nongpoh Parish, Umsning Parish and Mawlai Parish, reported The Shillong Times.

Then, the mortal remains will be kept in his parental home at Mawlai for the night.

From October 21 until the funeral, the body will be kept in the Mary Help of Christian Cathedral Church for people to pay their last respect to the departed leader.

Archbishop Jala died in a car accident at Colusa County, Oakland, California, USA, on October 11, along with Father Mathew Vellankal, an Indian priest who served as the pastor of St. Bonaventure Church in Concord, California. Another Indian priest with them, Father Joseph Parekkatt who accompanied them, was seriously wounded.

Archbishop Jala was born on July 12, 1951, and ordained priest on November 19, 1977, for Salesians of St. John Bosco.

At the age of 48, he was appointed as the Archbishop of Shillong on December 22, 1999, and ordained Archbishop on April 4, 2000, by Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil, the then Archbishop of Guwahati.

In 2016, Archbishop Jala was appointed as the Apostolic Administrator of Nongstoin diocese, Meghalaya. He is a priest for 41 years and a bishop for 19 years.

He is the chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of India (CCBI) Commission for Liturgy from 2015 onwards and the member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). He was also served CCBI from 2003 to 2007 as the chairman of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy.