By Purushottam Nayak
Berhampur: The death of a young priest by suicide in the eastern state of Odisha has shocked his friends and associates.
“It is a great loss for the Odisha Church,” says Father Bernard Lakra, priest-in-charge of Rajgangpur of Rourkela diocese, the native parish of Vincentian Father Pradeep Soreng whose body was found hanging on July 4 in his room’s bathroom.
The death of “a young and energetic priest, who had just begun his active life, has disheartened me,” Father Lakra told Matters India July 6.
Father Soreng hailed from Silikudar village, 6 km away from the parish church.
Vincentian Father Aliswar Karjee, who claimed to be Father Soreng’s best friend, said he heard with “a heavy heart the news about the death of a hardworking, committed and sociable person.”
Father Binaya Nayak, another Vincentian and a classmate of Father Soreng, said the deceased priest was “an amazing person,” who was “gifted with many talents that he used for the glory of God.”
“We will never forget him. May his soul find peace and comfort,” Father Nayak said while speaking with Matters India.
Rupandra Baliarsingh, head of Dukumaha village, where Father Soreng began his priestly life, termed his death as “an unthinkable tragedy.” Maintaining that suicide is “crushing and unthinkable and frightening,” he said he was “deeply shocked and sad over losing a vibrant priest.”
Father Soreng died by suicide while staying in St. Vincent Minor Seminary Gopalpur-on-Sea.
He was born on January 30, 1992. He was ordained a priest on February 23, 2020, in his parish by Bishop Kishor Kumar Kujur of Rourkela.