By Matters India Reporter
Mulleri, Aug 15, 2024: Gloom has spread over the archdiocese of Tellicherry in Kerala after one of its young priests died of electrocution on August 15.
Father Mathew (Shince) Kudilil was dismantling a pole erected to hoist the national flag in the morning as part of the Independence Day celebration in the premises of Infant Jesus Church at Mulleria in Kerala’s Kasaragod district.
After the mandatory lowering of the flag at sunset, the 29-year-old priest was removing the pole when it accidentally touched a high-tension electrical line passing near the church premises.
A team of archdiocesan official has rushed to Mulleria.
A message from archdiocesan chancellor Father Mathew Muttathukunnel late in the evening said Father Kudilil’s body has been kept at the mortuary of St Joseph’s Hospital Karuvanchal in Kannur district.
The body will be brought to his house in Edoor, some 50 km southeast of Karuvanchal, by 7 am on August 17. After an hour, it will be shifted to Edoor’s St Mary’s Forane Church for people to pay homage. The funeral services will start at 10 am, the chancellor added.
Father Kudilil’s death has downed the entire archdiocese into deep grief, Father Muttathukunnel said and added that the highly energetic young endeared himself to everyone he met.
Father Kudilil was ordained a priest three years ago. He came to Mulleria on May 14, 2023.
He had earlier served as the assistant vicar at St George Church, Chempanthotty in Kannur district from February 6, 2021, to January 25, 2022.
He was the assistant vicar of St Sebastian’s Church Nellickampoil, also in Kannur, until February 3, 2023. He was in Fathima Matha Church, Kudiyanmala, Kannur, for three months.
He was the son of the first cousin of Father George Kudilil, a priest of the Tellicherry archdiocese and the chief editor of the Deepika newspaper.