By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, April 30, 2022: Pope Francis on April 30 appointed Salesian Father Nirmol Vincent Gomes as the bishop of Krishnagar, a diocese in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal.
This was announced at 12 noon in Rome.
The diocese was without a bishop after Pope Francis April 17, 2019, accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Suren Gomes, who had crossed the mandatory retirement age of 75 for Catholic prelate. He was the diocese’s seventh bishop since May 31, 2002.
The Pope then appointed Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta as the apostolic administrator of the diocese.
The newly elected bishop was born on February 8, 1959, in Ranaghat, in the diocese of Krishnagar. He studied at the Minor Seminary at the Don Bosco School in Bandel. He did his philosophical studies at the Salesian College in Sonada and received his theological formation at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome.
He did a Licentiate in Pedagogy at the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome (1988-1991). He also holds a doctorate in Religious Education from the same Pontifical University (1997-2000), according to a press release from Father Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops in India.
He was his religious profession as a Salesian on May 24, 1979, and was ordained a priest on July 22, 1989 in his native parish.
He served as the dean of studies in the Salesian College in Sonada during 1991-1997. After his doctorate in 2000, he became the rector of the Salesian College, Sonada until 2006.
He then went to Krishnagar in 2006 as a confessor in the Don Bosco School and later became its rector, a post he held during 2007-2009. He also served as the vice-rector of the Salesian College in Siliguri from 2010 to 2013 and was made rector of the same college from 2013 to 2014.
In 2014, he was named the head of the Salesians’ Kolkata province, a post he held until 2019. From 2020-2021, he became a confessor in the Nazareth Bhawan Novitiate in Dhajea.
Krishnagar diocese is located in the central region of West Bengal and covers civil district of Nadia and Murshidabad. Spread over a land area of 8,640 square kilometers, the diocesan territory has cities such as Berhampur, Kalyani and Krishnagar.
Bengali and Santhali are the languages spoken in the diocese.
Augustinians and the Jesuits were the first Catholic missionaries to arrive in this region in the 17th century. They established a center at Berhampur in 1620. The first Catholic community was formed at Krishnagar by Portuguese Carmelite Father Thomas Zubiburu, who had come there in 1845 from Chittagong.
After Father Zibuburu left the place due to illness, the Milan Fathers (PIME) worked there from 1855. Krishnagar was erected into a Prefecture Apostolic on July 19, 1870, with Father Antony Marietti its first Prefect Apostolic. It became a diocese on September 1, 1886, with Father Frances Pozzi as its first bishop.
When Dinajpur diocese was bifurcated in 1928, the PIME fathers preferred to work in the new diocese, handing Krishnagar diocese to the Salesians.
In my comments by mistake I wrote the seat (Krishananagar Diocese Bishop) was vacant since April 2017 instead of April 2019. Asansol is another Diocese which has been without a Bishop since Bishop Cyprian Monis retired in May 2020 and is now being looked after by Bishop Emeritus Salvador Lobo.
Regarding the Pope’s exhortation to the media to courageously report on “humanity’s wounds,” I urge the prelate to pay heed to this aspect and not to allow smouldering volcanoes erupt suddenly. He would recollect that he came across such situations while he was Provincial in Kolkata. The prelate is also musically gifted and can use his skill to good effect to tend to his flock.
Hearty congratulations to the Reverend Nirmol Vincent Gomes. Wishing the shepherd designate and his flock strength and stamina.
Congratulations to the new prelate. However it defies logic that the Vatican took 5 years to make an appointment. The Nunciature in India really needs to get its act together. My own diocese of Allahabad one of the oldest in North India is without a bishop for the last 15 months. It is a systemic failure that warrants speedy redress.
Fr Nirmol Gomes’ elevation to Bishophood of Krishnanagar was a foregone conclusion considering his background – more so because he is a son of the soil, the current all-India practice for promotion. It is therefore very surprising why the seat was vacant since April 2017 and the Archbishop of Calcutta took over as the Administrator, when he is gasping for breath to manage his own Archdiocese.
But the “sons-and-daughters-of-the-soil” Policy is a mixed blessing for it also promotes unworthy ones to positions for which they are not worthy.
In this respect, one of the best candidates purely from piety, humility and pastoral points of view would have been Fr Anthony Rodrick, Director of Seva Kendra, Kolkata. He is rooted to the ground and constantly works for the downtrodden wherever he is posted. All his Sustainable Development projects are pro-poor. He smells the sheep 24×7. He specializes in horticulture and showed around his orchard in Proggaloy Barasat when he was Dean there. Interestingly, one and half years ago when one priest from Krishnanagar telephoned me and asked my opinion on probable candidates for the Bishop of Krishnanagar, I suggested Fr Anthony Rodrick’s name.
So in the midst of congratulations galore, I wish Bishop designate Fr Nirmol well in cleaning up the cobwebs and labyrinths of Krishnanagar Diocese.
By the way, Pope Francis on Sunday 1st May, spoke for Media Freedom and paid tribute to journalists who have died or been jailed in the line of duty, defending a free press and praising those in the media who courageously report on “humanity’s wounds.” I have done exactly this.