By Matters India Reporter
Bengaluru: Pope Francis on May 31 appointed Father Arulselvam Rayappan, a canon law expert and a seminary professor, as the bishop of Salem in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The announcement was made at 12 noon in Rome. The 60-year-old bishop elect is a priest of the archdiocese of Pondicherry-Cuddalore.
Father Rayappan currently teaches in Bengaluru’s St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute, where he also the director of the Centre for Canon Law Studies. He is also a judge of the Archdiocesan Tribunal of Pondicherry, according to a press release from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI).
The bishop-elect was on November 18, 1960, at Sathipattu, Archdiocese of Pondicherry-Cuddalore. He started his priestly studies in St. Agnes Minor Seminary and St. Joseph’s Hr. Sec. School, Cuddalore. He studied philosophy at Christ Hall Seminary, Madurai and theology at St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary.
He was ordained priest on May 20, 1986. He obtained a Masters in Canon Law from St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute in 1992 and doctorate from Pontificia Università Urbaniana, Rome two years later. He served as vice rector of St. Agnes Minor Seminary, assistant parish priest of Viriyur and Karaikal. He also served at the parish priest of Kurumbagaram.
He started teaching at St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute soon after his studies in Rome in 1994. He has also served as vice-rector of the same seminary and later its president for seven years from 2010. He was the executive secretary of CCBI Commission for Canon Law and Legislative Texts during 2010-2018.
He was president of the Canon Law Society of Tamil Nadu for two terms and secretary general of Canon Law Society of India for a term, and its president for two terms during 2013-2017, adds the press release issued by CCBI deputy secretary general Father Stephen Alathara.
In November 2019 a Professor from St. Peter’s Pontifical Institute was elevated to the position of a bishop for Palayamkottai diocese.
Now another professor from the same institute has been appointed as the bishop of Salem diocese.
A few questions:
1) What are the basic criteria to become a bishop?
2) Should the candidate hold many academic degrees, especially from an Italian or any other European University?
3) Is it mandatory that the candidate should have the experience of teaching in seminaries? If it is not, then, how do you justify the above two appointments (also many other similar appointments in the past in various dioceses of India)?
4) Is the elected bishop going to continue the teaching ministry or the pastoral ministry?
5) Why are the non-academic, dedicated and committed grassroot priests not elected as a bishop?
Note: Two examples: (a) Late George Saupin, the former bishop of Daltonganj and Bhagalpur
(b) Francis Kalist, the present bishop of Meerut diocese.
It is time for us to introspect and find valid answers.
Earlier Pope Francis appointed many Religious as bishops. We need people with pastoral experience as bishops, not seminary professors or Canon lawyers.