Jalandhar Diocese gets regular Bishop after 7 years

After nearly seven years, the Diocese of Jalandhar has got its new regular Bishop — Father Jose Sebastian Thekkumcherikunnel (63).

The previous regular Bishop, Franco Mulakkal, was relieved of his duties following his arrest by the Kerala police in September 2018 in connection with the nun rape case. Bishop Agnelo Gracias subsequently served here as the Apostolic Administrator.

Jose Sebastian’s name was announced by Pope Leo XIV on Saturday afternoon. This was later communicated to the community here by Bishop Gracias. Jose Sebastian will be the fourth regular Bishop of the Diocese.

Since the new Bishop was already serving as the financial administrator of the Diocese in Jalandhar and had been performing parish duties in Punjab (mostly in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Gurdaspur) since 1991, he is already well versed with the functioning of the Catholic churches and institutions being run by it in the state.

Bishop Agnelo said he was planning to work out the date for Episcopal Ordination, which would be clear after Monday meeting with the Diocesean Consultors.

Meanwhile, most Christian bodies in Punjab have welcomed the appointment of Bishop Jose. Christian activist Tarsem Peter said, "It will be easier to work with him for he can speak, read and even write Punjabi. So, we can directly interact with him without any trouble. The best part is that he knows the Punjabi culture well and understands all community and religio-political issues in the state well. Since there was no regular Bishop, the activities of the churches had seen some kind of a stagnation. But we now know that the pace of work will be restored once again."

The Catholic community had been somewhat upset because of the slowdown since 2018. This slowdown had given a huge chance to several Pentecostal churches to emerge and proliferate, especially since the pastors of these churches perform prayers in Punjabi and have been spending huge money on their fanciful events and exhibition of powers for miracle healing via social media. The new Bishop is unlikely to interfere in their working. He, however, maintained, "It will take me just a month to resettle for my new position that comes with a lot of responsibility."

The Diocese of Jalandhar covers 18 districts in Punjab and parts of Himachal Pradesh. There are about 150 parishes and over 1,000 priests and sisters associated with it. There are several schools, colleges and hospitals that are being managed by the Diocese.

Though Father Jose was born in Kalaketty, under the Diocese of Palai, he had got ordained as the priest under Diocese of Jalandhar 34 years ago. He was currently also working as the Parish Priest of St Joseph’s Church in Phagwara and Director of St Joseph’s Convent School there. From 2020-22, he had served as Rector and Parish Priest of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Jalandhar Cantonment.

In his initial years, he had begun his ministry as Assistant Parish Priest at St Mary’s Church in Fatehgarh Churian. He taught at Minor Seminary in Amritsar. He was later appointed as the Principal of St. Francis School, Amritsar.

After his studies in Rome, he returned to Jalandhar to serve as vice- chancellor, Defender of the Bond, and Director of Village Catechesis. From 2007 to 2020, he was Chancellor and Judicial Vicar of the Diocese. He also taught at the Holy Trinity Regional Major Seminary in Jalandhar.