By Matters India Reporter

New Delhi: As many as 14 Catholic priests in India have succumbed to the coronavirus pandemic between April 20 and 23, according to available information.

They were among more than 20 priests the Church lost to Covid-19 in the past one month.

The Church in India has a little over 30,000 priests, both diocesan and religious.

The latest victim was Father Lijo Thomas of the archdiocese of Nagpur, who died April 23 afternoon at Christ Hospital, Chandrapur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. He was 38.

Earlier in the day, the Dumka diocese in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand lost Father S Christudas, a tribal activist. The 58-year-old priest had recovered from Covid-19 a few days ago, but died after a fall in the bathroom.

On the same day, the deadly virus claimed Fathers Srinivasan, a member of the Madurai Jesuit province, Diago Dsouza of Bombay Jesuit province and Arulsamy of the archdiocese of Bhopal in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Fr George Karamayil, SJ
A day earlier, Fathers Martin Anthony of the archdiocese of Bangalore, and Praveen Hrudayaraj, a member of the Karnataka Jesuit province, died of Covid.

The diocese of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh state lost Father Basant Lakra on April 21. The same day saw the deaths of Fathers George Karamayil of the Patna Jesuit province, Thomas Akkara of the Divine World Society, Joseph Cherusseril of Raipur archdiocese and Theodore Toppo of the Carmelites of Immaculate congregation in Jagdalpur diocese.

The archdiocese of Raipur in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh on April 20 lost Father Antony Kunnath, the 78-year-old parish priest Mahasamund. On the same day, Covid-19 claimed Father Sanjay Francis, assistant parish priest of Vailankanni Matha Church, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh and a member of the Meerut diocese.

Fr Christudas
The Catholic Press Association of India on April 23 mourned the death of Father Lijo, who was the former public relations officer of the Nagapur archdiocese. He had also served as the secretary of the Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur.

Mourning the death of Father Christudas, Gladson Dung Dung, an activist in Jharkhand, says the tribal society in Jharkhand would be “eternally indebted” to the priest who had worked hard for their advancement.

Fr Srinivasan SJ
According to him, Father Christudas had overcome the Covid-19 infection and returned to his house in Dumka on April 23. However, he had a fall in the bathroom that led to profuse bleeding from the head. His companions rushed him to the hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.

According to Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore, Father Anthony, who parish priest Kristha Krupalaya Church, Veerabhadra Nagara, Hosakerehalli died at 2:30 pm on April 22 in St Michael’s Hospital, Bengaluru. He was diagnosed a Covid positive but death came from a massive heart attack.

(Reissued with correction in the number of deaths.)

67 Comments

  1. Alarming. God will find a way out of this. Let us TRUST our God. Take care

  2. Still the fathers are not taking care in the churches not announcing to wear masks to mouth and nose and not to chin

  3. Oh Holy Trinity: Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Have mercy on the souls who died from COVID-19. May all our beloved & departed priests, deacons, nuns, missionaries and lay people and all religious orders rest in peace in the Heavenly Kingdom of God. Praying for all the souls in Purgatory for Mother Mary to interceed for the suffering in Purgatory to Her dear beloved Son Jesus Christ to have mercy and to forgive them of all their past sins while they were alive on this Earth. Praying for Jesus to give them and to take them up to Heaven as soon as possible in Jesus Mighty Name Amen. RIP. AVE MARIA.

  4. Feel deeply saddened by this tragedy that is claiming the lives of so many of our people in India. I feel so helpless living at our Retirement Home in Ireland. I can only pray that the Lord and His blessed Mother bring an end to all the suffering of our people in India,
    God bless you,
    Sister Nellie Carvalho, fmsa

  5. May these wonderful priests rest in God’s Care. We praise and thank God for their ministry

  6. They died serving us ..May their dear souls rest in peace Amen ..

  7. May the departed souls rest in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

  8. May eternal rest grant unto all priests and nuns who died during these few weeks due to Covid. They might already in heaven and interceding for us to wash out this Corona virus from the face of the universe and may almighty protect our priests, nuns and lay people from this lethal Corona virus.

  9. We very much want all these departed priests to be with us but God has different plan for them so be sure they all joined the saint and Angels to Parise and adore him and they are closer to Our Lord. Let us pray to them to intercede for us.

  10. Fr lord have mercy on us and all the priests who have died take them to heaven forgive us our sins lord wiipe away this deadly virus from the face of the earth.Have mercy lord have mercy

  11. Lord Jesus You know everything n nothings is impossible for You. Let Thy Will be done. Lord have mercy on all the departed souls of Your faithful servants and grant them eternal peace 🙏 n give their families friends and all of us your Divine wisdom n strength to bear this grief

  12. They leave behind their share and ours together to word harder to work for the kingdom of jesus.

  13. May the souls rest in peace all who fight as against covid
    Eternal rest grant unto them oh Lord
    Rozario C

  14. My heart felt sympathy to all the families of the priest who lost their life, let us all pray 1 Our father 3 hail Mary for the safety of our priest who are living for the congregation

    ” Our father who art in heaven”

    continue the prayer and create a safety chain for our priests

  15. O Lord protect your priest.save them from this deadly virus.

  16. O Lord protect your priest.

  17. May Eternal rest grant into all the priests and let perpetual light shine upon them may they rest in peace. If it is the will of our Lord, may He accept them into His heavenly abode.

  18. The Lord has His own plans. Here we are praying for more workers in the vineyard & sadly He is taking them Home for their deserved glory. Continue to spread your safety mantle on all the religious & the medical fraternity who are also sacrificing their lives for the public

  19. May their souls rest in God’s eternal peace.

  20. Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine on them
    May their souls rest in peace 🙏🙏

    Lord Jesus, we trust in you Always

  21. Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine on them
    May their souls rest in peace 🙏🙏

  22. They were the true followers of Jesus Christ who was the first Missionary ,
    working among the poor,downtrodden
    And the needy.
    Jesus Christ never promoted Higherarchial supremacy, Rites
    and asset building.

  23. May the souls of the departed priests, nuns, pastors rest in peace.Sad indeed. Let the Lord protect us all, that weadhere to all the possible precautions.

  24. Merciful Lord Jesus Christ grant eternal rest to their souls.
    The count could be more than 14 Priests. It is big loss to Church.

  25. Huge loss to the catholic community of India. May their souls rest in peace. Dear fathers & religious sisters, please take care. Stay safe & blessed. We need you all .

  26. Eternal rest grant to all the souls of priests, bishops, nuns and all the poor people. May the Good Lord grant them forgiveness of their sins. Let His Holy Light shine upon them and may their Souls rest in peace, Amen.

  27. Very sad. May their souls rest in peace

  28. They have gone to live with the lord almighty,
    They are in a very place.

  29. May God grant eternal rest to all the preist and nuns whom we lost during this pandemic. May they intercede for all of us that the world be protected from this pandemic. Heartfelt condolence to the preistly and religious family.
    May we continue to fight covid to save many.
    God bless all of us.

  30. Jesus master have mercy on all and may the departed souls of your servants R.i.p..heart breaking .Lord Jesus wash away this disease by your precious blood from the earth please forgive us

  31. Jesus master have mercy on all and may the departed souls of your servants R.i.p..heart breaking .Lord Jesus wash away this disease by your precious blood from the earth please give us

  32. A big loss for the Catholic Church. May they Rest in Peace.

  33. May God external bless them all, may their souls rest in peace.

  34. All are most dedicated Priests of Catholic Church and shockingly they are no more. Deep Condolences to their Parents, Relatives, Friends and Parishioners. May Almighty God Bless these Souls and give them Rest In Peace

    1. Eternal Rest grant unto these Religious Holy Priests Souls and Condolences to their Breaved Families in these times of grief moments

  35. 🙏 All are most dedicated Priests of Catholic Church and shockingly they are no more. Deep Condolences to their Parents, Relatives, Friends and Parishioners. May Almighty God Bless these Souls and give them Rest In Peace 🙏

    1. So sad that we lost many priests. May they rest in peace..

  36. May the Lord grant them eternal life. They have done great things for the humanity.

  37. Two IMS priests : Fr Tejkumar Tigga n Fr Bimal Kiran I MS also expired after getting better but due to heart attack after discharge from the hospital. It happened yesterday. 23 rd April

  38. I am deeply saddened to hear of the deaths of so many of our priests all due to the negligence of this Govt.who mislead its citizens. It’s high time they are answerable to its citizens for this huge negligence of gross magnitude

  39. Save the priests by shutting down worship services for the duration of the pandemic and offer the churches and schools to hospitals to become extension wards in order to accommodate and treat overflowing number of patients.

  40. It is sadden to know that so many priests have died of covid19 . May their souls rest in peace.

  41. God has His plans for each of us , but we do feel abandoned, and fearful for the people of God, But we are just mortals.
    Eternal Rest to each of the Consecrated ,
    Priests , Religious and Nuns.
    Pray for us here on the Earth. 🙏🙏

  42. We need more vocations in the vineyard to replace their presence. They will be missed. O Jesus Eternal Shepherd of our souls, Send good workers into your vineyard.

  43. Very heart breaking that our Religious Preists and nuns serving the poor, and looking after the welfare of the people, working, praying day and night, preaching, offering their services, disciples of Jesus.

    May the souls of the faithful departed through the Mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN.

  44. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen

  45. Sad news. Respectful farewell to Fathers Lijo Thomas, S Christudas, Srinivasan, Diago D’Souza, Arulsamy, Martin Anthony, Praveen Hrudayaraj, Basant Lakra, George Karamayil, Thomas Akkara, Joseph Cherusseril, Theodore Toppo , Antony Kunnath, and Sanjay Francis. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed souls. Strength and courage to all their loved ones.

  46. Many sisters too died of Covid and they are in the forefront against Covid fight. Please make an effort to report about them as well. May God grant eternal rest to them.
    God bless

    1. Rip🙏🙏🙏🌹🌹.May eaternal soul rest in peace i

  47. It’s very heartbreaking for us the laity of Mumbai, who have a deep gratitude and
    respect for our nuns and priests .. to see
    the deaths of so many due to Covid …
    Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord
    And let perpetual light shine upon them Amen..

    Our deep condolences to their families and
    loved ones.. Words can never express our
    grief enough..,

  48. Denis d silva very sad to hear so many priests passed away. Rest thier soul in peace. They all worked welfare of the society and not them selves

  49. May their souls rest in peace

  50. Mary D George 24/04/21

    Heart breaking news. May their souls rest in peace.

  51. May God grant eternal rest to all our departed Souls &Count them among the Saints.

  52. It’s really shocking to hear the lost of so May priests due to COVID n May their Soul Rest in peace in heaven.All to be safe n free from this pandemic n care about the needy n downtrodden in this time of need.May God guide us n help us All

  53. RIP Fathers!! May God’s Peace ☮️ find u all in Paradise v pray in Jesus Holy Name. Amen 🙏😭 Praying for ur grieving fly n community to cope wit this great loss …..😭 May God’s Blessings give them Comfort n Strength to grief their loss of pain n heartaches…..We miss u n love u Fathers…….God speed your souls to Paradise v pray in Jesus Holy Name. Amen 🙏 Shalom 😊✌️

  54. Very sad to learn that so many of our brothers who served the humanity with utmost dedication have lost their lives due to Covid-19 May their Souls Rest In Peace Amen.

  55. May their souls rest in peace

  56. RIP to the Fathers who succumbed to Covid. May their victory of bringing Jesus closer to the faithful whom they interacted with, be furthered. May they continue to inspire the people they interacted with , dedicate their lives in whatever way Jesus calls them to.

    Gratitude to the parents and the families of these priests for nurturing them. Condolences and prayers for the families , the respective communities, friends and acquaintances.

  57. Rev Texeira of Mysuru diocese also passed on a couple of days ago

  58. Quite crazy.. cannot believe that Christu Das is no more..RIP friends

  59. Many nuns in India also have gone to the eternal abode due to the COVID, may be it is not reported !!!! yet to !!

  60. 5 priest died of Covid in Cuddapah diocese, Andhra Pradesh.

    1. May those who have gone before us..sisters n fathers b blessed with d Lord. May the rest of take great care of ourselves as d 2nd surge is deadly.Love n forgive n dont panic

      1. We entrust their souls in the hands of our father in heaven and pray that there may be an abundance of vocations to church.

        1. Dear Lord we thank you for giving us these priests who served you n us tirelessly.. May GOD give their families strength n courage to bear the loss n may their souls thro the mercy of GOD rest in peace

      2. It was sad to hear the news of priest and nuns dying due to this Covid 19 pandemic
        We are distrubed by this news

        Request CBCI And CCBI to advise all Arch Bishops ,Bishops to take care of all Lay People, Priests and Nuns and publish statement to adhere Covid 19 protocol strictly in their Diocese and Parish

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