Kotama: More than 2,500 Catholics, including priests and nuns, on Dec 30 attended the ordination of the first Jesuit priest from Kandhamal district in Odisha, the scene of the worst anti-Christian violence in modern India.
Bishop Sarat Chandra Nayak of Berhampur ordained Narendra Singh, at St. Teresa Child Jesus’ Church, Kotama of Gajapati district. The 35-year-old priest is a member of the Calcutta Jesuit Province.
Father Singh, also known as Punim, hails from Our Lady of Lourdes Parish of Alanjuri village near Bamunigam town in Kandhamal district.
“History has been made for Kandhamal and Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese with the ordination of Fr Singh,” said Bishop Nayak in his homily. He described the new priest as “our pride and benchmark for the community” when the universal Church is celebrating the Year of Mercy. The prelate urged all to pray for for young boys to join the Society of Jesus and other religious congregations to serve the Church and society at large.
Jesuits, or the Society of Jesus, entered Kandhamal in 1993, at least 15 years before the tribal-dominated district witnessed months-long attacks against Christians that killed at least 90 people and rendered more than 50,000 homeless.
Currently, Odisha, the eastern India state, has ten Jesuit priests. Seven of them are from Sundergarh district under Rourkela diocese, two are from Sambalpur diocese and one from Gajapati district in Berhampur diocese.
Father Ajaya Kumar Singh, director of Odisha Forum for Social Action (OROSA) and a human rights activist, who hails from the same village of the newly ordained priest, says more young boys from Kandhamal should join the Society of Jesus, religious orders and dioceses to work for the poor and needy.
Another priest working in Kandhamal, speaking on condition of anonymity, regretted that Jamshedpur Jesuit Province that covers Odisha refuses to recruit boys from Kandhamal and Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese.
Jesuits have been working in Odisha for decades, he noted.
Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese covers nine civil districts.
The Jamshedpur Jesuit province has accepted members from other four dioceses of Odisha.
“There is incredible happiness in all of us priests, nuns and people in our village and the archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar,” Father Augustine Singh, president of diocesan priests’ association of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, told Matters India.
Others noted that the Jesuit priest’s ordination is taking place at a time when the Church in Odisha is marking the birth anniversary of the first Catholic priest from the eastern Indian state. Late Father Pascal Singh, a diocesan priest, also hailed from Alanjuri parish.
“I have no words to express how happy I feel that my brother is going to be a Jesuit priest. It is all by the blessings of God and the hard work of my brother,” said William Singh, the eldest brother of the new priest.
Narendra is the fourth of five children in the family (three sons and two daughters). His parents — Laxman Singh and Petronila Singh – are no more.
Fr. Singh thanked everyone present on the occasion, especially this ordaining prelate, Jesuit superiors, parents, teachers and villagers who have contributed to his life and training.
Fr Singh said the Society of Jesus has given him tremendous scope to discover his potentials. The responsible freedom he enjoys in the congregation has made him mature and sensitive to others’ needs.
His hobbies include writing novels, short stories, skits and plays, acting, art, playing tabla, and drums. He started his education from his village primary school and then Government High School at Bamunigam. He joined the Society of Jesus in 2000.
He did philosophy in Pune and theology in Delhi. He was ordained a deacon on February 14.
Jesuits in Odisha now manage six parishes, 14 schools, one University and three non-formal education centers. The first Jesuit priest to work in Kandhamal was Fr. Jerry Kujur in Tumudibandha in 1993. The first Jesuit house in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar was Loyola Bhavan, Bhubaneswar in July 1985.