By Frida Toppo
Bishnupur: When Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal ordains Father Gangmei Pheigathuaipou Daniel on December 30, the Jesuits will get their first priest from Rongmei, a major Naga tribe in the northeastern India.
Archbishop Lumon will ordain Father Daniel in St Ignatius Church Bishnupur, a Jesuit parish in Manipur state.
Father Daniel is the first priest from the Bishnupur parish that was established by the Jesuits 35 years ago.
The parish now has 2,300 Catholics spread in 20 villages.
The new priest hails from Majuron village in Churachandpur district.
He is the seventh among 9 children.
He did his primary schooling at Loyola school Bishnupur and higher secondary at St. Joseph’s College, Jakhana in neighboring Nagaland state.
He did his novitiate in Shillong and theology in Vidyajyoti College of Theology in Delhi.
Father Daniel says he was inspired to join the Society of Jesus after seeing the humanitarian work of Jesuits and the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate who serve in the parish.
“When I was growing up, clashes between the Kuki and Naga tribes were gaining momentum. I had seen many neighboring villagers being burnt.” He said he had seen many Jesuits priests and MSI sisters “rendering humanitarian services to all communities affected by the tribal clash.”
He was then studying in Loyola School in Bishnupur, a prestigious educational institution in the area. “I might not have been the brightest student but my eyes were wide open to the activities the priests and sisters,” he told Matters India.
Father Daniel credits his vocation with Father Jayant Kumar, the first parish priest of Bishnupur, who died recently. “He was my favorite hero. He would come to my village and often visited my house.”
His elder brothers and sisters became Catholics along with some villages those days.
Congratulations to Father Gangmei Pheigathuaipou Daniel. This is a great news. Congratulations also to Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal. The archdiocese has many vocations and they run the Church in spite of the restlessness the state of Manipur faced for several years. Militant groups are many there. Extortion was rampant and they did not spare the Catholic Church either. Priests from outside were attacked and killed in the past. Bishnupur was not a peaceful area for long. The Salesians work among the Rongmeis at Tamenglong, Khoupum Valley etc. The pioneers cannot be forgotten and ignored. The Salesians were the first missionaries in Manipur and they took some diocesan ones from the South. Among the oldest living ones are Msgr Joseph Kachiramattam and Fr George Kandathinkara. The presence of Jesuits was found since long, from the 70’s. Fr Shenoy was a pioneer among them. He was the Director of Media Centre in Bangalore, later on when he left Imphal and Bishnupur. Kudos to the Jesuits for this rare achievement. May Fr Daniel’s priestly tribe increase.