By Irudhaya Jothi

Aizawl April 4, 2023: The newly appointed bishop of Mizoram says his main priority is to bring Barak Valley’s diverse ethnic communities together through focused pastoral care and help them work together overcoming all their challenges.

“I will visit every parish and in the Barrak Valley and work for peace and harmony among the people,” Bishop-elect Joachim Walder told Matters India in his first-ever interview after the announcement of his appointment.

Pope Francis on March 30 appointed the 67-year-old priest as the Aizawl diocese’s auxiliary bishop. The diocese covers the entire state of Mizoram and Assam’s Cachar, Hailakandi and Kaimkanj districts in northeastern India.

He is currently the episcopal vicar of Barak Valley region that covers Assam’s three districts.

Bishop Stephen Rotlunanga of Aizawl said the new bishop will address the pressing needs of the Barrak Valley. He recalled the Church’s several attempts to find a definite solution to the valley’s various issues.

The bishop-elect says he is willing to witness Christ in all challenges.

The native of Mangaluru in southern India has worked in northeastern India since 1976, as a parish priest and school principal. He came to the region when the Aizawl diocese was known as Silchar.

The bishop-elect says he is grateful to God for “this special blessing on me and to the mother church which considered me worthy of this calling.” The news of his appointment, he adds, has humbled him and made him speechless.

He says the Barack Valley has seven ethnic groups who are not properly accompanied by the Church because of various reasons. “So, my primary task is to visit each ethnic group, listen to them and assure them that the Mother Church cares for them.”

Asked about the demands for strict implementation anti-conversion laws and the removal of Christian converts from the Scheduled Tribes list the bishop-elect said he would strengthen the youth, “our future,” to address such matters.

The demands were made at a March 26 tribal rally in Assam. Thousands of tribal people from 30 districts of Assam attended the rally in Dispur, Assam’s capital, organized by Janajati Dharam Sanskriti Surakshya Manch, a tribal outfit.

“I am going to focus on youth formation and work with other denominations but will be ready to witness Christ under all circumstances,” he asserted.

During his 37 years of service, the bishop-elect worked mostly in parishes and in the education field. He started a few schools and served as their principals also.

On his future ministry in the diocese, he said, “I shall focus mostly on the Barak Valley region and when needed would help out in Mizo-speaking regions.”

He said the valley has only 12 diocesan and 10 priests from various religious congregations and six minor seminarians.

“The languages spoken in the Barrak Valley region are Bengali, Khasi, Hindi and some Halam groups of languages,” he explained.

He said each ethnic group has its own challenges. “Bringing them together as one diocese will be my task,” he added.

The bishop-elect was born on April 20, 1956, in St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Nirkan, Mangalore diocese, Karnataka.

The announcement of the new bishop was made in the presence of around 100 priests and nuns of the diocese who attended a day-long reflection and discussion on Synodality.

The dates for the episcopal ordination will be decided later as the bishop-elect has the previously committed travel plans.