By Francis Sunil Rosario
Raiganj, May 5, 2022: More than 5,000 people of the diocese of Raiganj have felicitated Bishop Fulgence A. Tigga on the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination.
More than 300 priests from Raiganj and neighboring dioceses in West Bengal concelebrated the May 3 jubilee Mass.
The parishes of the diocese took the initiative to organize liturgy and cultural programs to felicitate the youngest bishop in the West Bengal region.
Bishop Tigga and Bishops Bishop Vincent Aind of Bagdogra Clement Tirkey of Jalpaiguri were taken in procession from Bishop’s House, after the traditional washing of the feet to the podium.
The choir sang hymns in Santhali, Bengali and Hindi, the major languages in the diocese.
Bishop Tigga was born March 3, 1965 as the eldest of five children of Aloysius Tigga and Mary Margaret Kujur, residents of Valoar Tala, a village under Kereng parish in the Gumla diocese of Jharkhand.
His minor seminary studies were in Patna and Muzaffarpur in Bihar state, philosophy at Bishwa Jyoti Gurukul, Varanasi, and theological from the Regional Seminary, Astha, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.
He was ordained a priest May 3, 1997, for the diocese of Muzaffarpur. In 1998, when Muzaffarpur was divided to create Bettiah, he joined the new diocese headed by Bishop Victor Henry Thakur, presently the archbishop of Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
He was appointed the bishop of Raiganj on June 8, 2018.
During the Jubilee celebration, Bishop Tigga said, “I was sent to this diocese in Bengal, totally unknown to me. I accepted the appointment in faith, like Abraham in the Bible, who was sent to an unknown land.”
He said he has experienced immense love of God during the past four years.
Raiganj was carved out of Dumka diocese on June 8, 1978. The jubilarian is the third bishop of the diocese.