By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, Jan 13, 2024: Pope Francis on January 13 appointed bishops for five dioceses and an auxiliary for one in four states of India.
He also accepted the resignations of three bishops, including Bishop K A William of Mysore who had been asked by the Vatican a year ago “to take a period of absence from the ministry.”
Four of the bishops-elect are natives of Tamil Nadu that celebrated Pongal, its harvest festival, on the day. The announcement came a day ahead of the feast of Saint Devasahayam Pillai, the first native saint of Tamil Nadu.
According to a press statement from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (Latin Rite), the Pope has also accepted the resignations of Bishops Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Antonisamy Francis of Kumbakonam in Tamil Nadu, southern India.
The new bishop for Jabalpur is Father Valan Arasu of the same diocese, currently serving as the principal of St. Aloysius College in the city, the legal headquarters of Madhya Pradesh.
In Kumbakonam, the Pope elevated its vicar general Father Jeevanandam Amalanathan as its new bishop.
Another diocese in Tamil Nadu, Kuzhithurai, got Father Albert George Alexander Anastas, a priest of Kottar, as its new bishop. He currently serves as a professor at St. Paul’s Seminary, Tiruchirappalli.
The Pope has appointed Father Bhaskar Jesuraj, a priest of the Agra archdiocese, as the new bishop of Meerut, both in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The diocese was lying vacant since March 19, 2022, when Pope Francis promoted Bishop Francis Kalist as the archbishop of Pondicherry-Cuddalore.
Bishop-elect Jesuraj now serves as the deputy secretary of the Agra Regional Bishops Council and principal of St. Clare’s Senior Secondary School in Agra.
Another vacant diocese, Karwar in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu’s northwestern neighbor, got a new bishop in Father Duming Dias, a member of Shimoga diocese and director of the Sannidhi Pastoral Renewal Center of Shimoga. The diocese was administered by Bishop Derek Fernandes of Belgaum.
Vijayapuram diocese in neighboring Kerala too saw the elevation of its vicar general as its auxiliary.
Bishop-elect Arasu was born on June 13, 1967, in Enayam, in Kottar diocese. After minor seminary, he studied philosophy and theology at St. Charles’ Seminary in Nagpur. He was ordained a priest on May 12, 1996.
Bishop-elect Amalanathan was born on April 2, 1963, in Michaelpatti. He studied at Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, Kumbakonam, and Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Poonamallee, Chennai. He was ordained a priest on May 6, 1990.
Bishop-elect Anastas was born on December 16, 1966, in Manavilai, in Kottar diocese. He studied Philosophy at Christ Hall Seminary, Arul Anandar College, Karumathur, Madurai and Theology at St. Paul’s Seminary, Tiruchirappalli. He was ordained a priest on April 26, 1992, for Kottar.
The new Meerut bishop was born on April 11, 1966, in Tanjore, Tamil Nadu. He studied philosophy and theology at St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He was ordained a priest on April 21, 1993 for the Agra archdiocese.
Bishop-elect Dias was born on September 13, 1969, in Honavar, in Karwar diocese. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary in Bangalore. He was ordained a priest on May 6, 1997, for Shimoga. He has served as the associate director of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore for seven years until 2021.
Vijayapuram’s auxiliary bishop-elect Madathiparambil was born on April 6, 1972, in Pambanar, in the same diocese. He studied Philosophy and Theology at St. Joseph’s Pontifical Seminary, Carmelgiri, Alwaye. He also studied licentiate in liturgy from the Pontifical University of Sant’Anselmo and a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Urbaniana University of Rome. He was ordained a priest on December 27, 1996.
What is needed is transparency in the selection of bishops across all dioceses (currently 174 in total) of India. Transparency is also needed in other matters of church administration – finance is one of the most important areas Why finance? The answer lies in a website recently published by the Ministry of Home Affairs on cancellation of FCRA registration of NGOs. The list (state-wise) includes many church-run / Christian NGOs which have lost their FCRA registration. This has happened due mainly to the opaque operation of church finance which is headed by diocesan bishops. . Many parishes do not even have Parish Finance Committee. And we cry persecution!
Similarly the selection of bishops is a very opaque procedure. I have asked many priests. They too were not very clear. Their only answer was: It’s mainly decided by the Vatican. But how can the Vatican decide on a bishop from 6000 kilometers away from India’s capital? Vatican is not the sovereign head of India. Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) which is the apex body of the bishops of 174 Catholic dioceses, must come clean on the criteria for selection of Bishops. Who nominates / proposes the names of candidates (probable bishops) of a diocese? How many names are proposed? What is the role of laity in this nomination including background check of probable candidates, minimum and maximum age for eligibility, etc?
My understanding is the best candidates may not always be chosen, due to the weightage given to sons of the soil policy which may not always turn out to be the best choice – Bishops Gallela Prasad, Franco Mulakkal, and K.A. William are classic examples of this aberration.
Those foreign missionaries who came to serve the Church in India had only one goal in life that as to establish God’s kingdom on earth. They served the cause of the Church relentlessly without looking for power n position. They hv left behind indelible footprints n legacy of their great missionary endeavours.
During the post independence era n after Second Vatican Council there had been a continuous flow of vocations to serve the Church in North India from South India. It is very glaring to notice that when there are vacancies for the post of Bishops in North the chosen candidates are preferred from South only. Are there no local candidates who can take charge n be the shepherds of these dioceses! In the most recent appointment of Bishops all the candidates hail from south n four of these belong to the same ethnic communities. When will the Church in India will wake up to find suitable candidates from among the sons of the soil? To make Church truly Local and spirit filled?