India loses fourth Catholic bishop to Covid-19

By Matters India Reporter

Gumla: The Catholic Church in India on June 15 lost the fourth bishop to Covid-19.

Bishop Paul Alois Lakra of Gumla in Jharkhand died at 1.30 am at Orchid Hospital Ranchi, capital of the eastern Indian state, where he was undergoing Covid-19 treatment. He was 65.

Jesuit Archbishop Felix Toppo of Ranchi will preside over the requiem Mass at 10 am on June 16 at the Gumla Cathedral.

Bishop Lakra’s body will be taken later to Gumla’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, some 95 km southwest of Ranchi.

Gumla vicar general Father Cyprian Kullu said nuns and Catholics of the diocese could pay homage to the bishop from 2 pm on June 15.

The number of participants for the requiem Mass will be restricted in accordance with the government Covid-19 guidelines, Father Kullu said.

All bishops from Jharkhand and Andaman and neighboring dioceses are expected at the funeral.

Bishop Lakra is the fourth Catholic prelate to die of Covid-19. The others were retired Archbishop Antony Anandarayar of Pondicherry-Cuddalore who died on May 5 and Bishops Basil Bhuriya of Jhabua in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh (central India) the next day. Retired Bishop Joseph Pastor Neelankavil of Sagar Syro-Malabar diocese died on February 17.

At the same time, the Church in India has lost 283 priests and 252 nuns during the coronavirus pandemic, according to Fathers Suresh Mathew of the Indian Currents and Shaiju Chacko of Jammu-Srinagar diocese who track these deaths.

Mourning Bishop Lakra’s death, Bishop Niranjan Sual Singh of Sambalpur, neighboring Odisha state, told Matters India, “I am extremely sorry to hear his sad news. He was a good friend of mine. He was a very gentle and compassionate person. May God grant him eternal rest.”

Bishop Lakra was born on July 11, 1955, and was ordained a priest on May 6, 1988, for the Archdiocese of Ranchi. On May 28, 1993, he joined the diocese of Gumla, a suffragan diocese of Ranchi Archdiocese. He was appointed the Gumla bishop on January 28, 2006, and his episcopal ordination was on April 5, 2006.

Bishop Lakra was a priest for 33 and a bishop for 15 years.

Jharkhand’s two dioceses – Gumla and Simdega – were carved out of Ranchi Archdiocese on May 28, 1993. Late Jesuit Bishop Michael Minj was the first bishop of Gumla and Bishop Lakra was the second bishop.