By Irudhaya Jothi
Silchar, May 28, 2023: More than 6,000 people on May 28 attended the ordination of Auxiliary Bishop Joachim Walder of Aizawl in northeastern India.
Archbishop Victor Lyngdoh of Shillong, the chief consecrator, led the ceremony held at Don Bosco School Sankar Basti, Silchar in Assam.
Among the participants was Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, who urged people to follow Pope Francis in setting new trends in Christian leadership.
The chief consecrator placed the miter on the new bishop as the sign of holiness and handed him the pastoral staff to guide the people entrusted to him.
Around 100 priests and 12 bishops attended the ordination ceremony that began at 10 am with a procession dance by the flower girls.
During the Mass, the Pope’s letter to ordain Father Walder was read out to the people.
After his homily, Archbishop Lyngdoh anointed the bishop-elect’s head with sacred chrism oil and handed over a copy of the Bible to proclaim the word of God with unfailing patience and sound teaching.
The chief consecrator then placed a ring on the priest’s right hand to symbolize his fidelity to the Church and commitment to protect it from all adversities.
The new bishop is currently the episcopal vicar of Barak Valley region that covers Assam’s three districts. He has worked in northeastern India since 1976, as parish priest and school principal. He came to the region when the Aizawl diocese was known as Silchar.
The native of Mangaluru in southern India says he is willing to witness Christ in all challenges. He says he is grateful to God for “this special blessing on me and to the mother church which considered me worthy of this calling.”
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.”
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.
Bishop Walder was born on April 20, 1956, at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Nirkan, Mangalore diocese of Karnataka state. He joined St. Joseph’s Seminary, Mangalore in 1973 and completed his minor seminary studies in 1976.
He was ordained a priest on April 26, 1986, in his home parish.
During his 37 years of service, the bishop has worked mostly in parishes and in the education field. He started a few schools and served as their principals also.
Aizawl diocese was bounded on the west and south by Bangladesh, and on the south and east by Myanmar.
It began in 1952 as the Apostolic Prefecture of Haflong, entrusted to the Holy Cross Fathers of the Canadian province. The prefecture was elevated in 1969 as the diocese of Silchar and it was renamed to Aizawl on January 11, 1996.
The Catholic population in Aizawl diocese is 40,892. The diocese has 42 parishes and 138 educational institutions, served by 78 diocesan priests, 68 religious men and 205 nuns.
Michael Toppo, the first local priest for the region of the Barrak valley, has expressed happiness and hope saying the new bishop will bring in unity and peace among the different ethnic groups.