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KOHIMA´S NEW BISHOP PRIORITIZES BUILDING TRIBAL CHURCH

Updated: April 01, 1998 05:00 PM GMT
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Newly ordained Bishop Jose Mukala of Kohima says his priority is to heal wounds of division in 40 years of tribal unrest in India´s Nagaland state, but that the various groups must also seek reconciliation.

"A bishop is no bishop if there is no people of God, and he exists only so far as there is a community," Bishop Mukala told some 15,000 people at a March 15 function in Kohima, Nagaland´s state capital, after episcopal ordination.

"I will spend my whole life as a thanksgiving to God trying to build up the Body of Christ," he added, but further said that "tolerance, reconciliation, dialogue and peace among the various groups of people" is also needed.

Three archbishops, six bishops and some 600 Religious were among those at the ordination of the 50-year-old bishop, the second ordinary of this northeastern Indian diocese founded in 1973.

Nagaland´s 1.2 million people belong to 14 major tribes and several smaller groups. Christians, at 87 percent, are further divided among Assembly of God, Baptists, Catholics, Seventh Day Adventists and other Churches or sects.

Missioners such as the Evangelical Church´s Reverend Dino L. Toutbagn say the tribals consider their "ethnic identity" more important than their "faith identity," and religion has therefore failed to effect a lasting peace.

Bishop Mukala´s aim of "building up the Body of Christ is appropriate in the situation of conflict in today´s Naga society" in which insurgency and ethnic rivalry abound, said Lucas Meyas, a lay leader and state government official.

Intertribal fighting for dominance and an underground insurgency seeking an independent Naga nation claims hundreds of lives every year. Several Christian initiatives have failed to resolve the problem.

Bishop Mukala "is not an unknown" to the people, said Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati, describing the new bishop as "a zealous pastor, an able administrator, an effective teacher and intelligent planner."

Bishop Mukala, a native of India´s southern Kerala state, has lived in the region since his minor seminary days. He was ordained a priest in 1978 for Dibrugarh diocese, which was later divided to create Kohima diocese.

He was made chancellor of Kohima diocese on his return in 1983. He became diocesan administrator in 1996 after Kohima´s first bishop, Abraham Alangimattathil, retired due to ill health.

Kohima diocese, spread across Nagaland, had only 18,000 Catholics among the state´s 510,000 people when it was founded 25 years ago. The Catholic population has now grown to some 40,000.

Kohima´s 109 priests and 257 Religious work in 24 parishes, 179 schools, two colleges and a center for teacher training. Lay catechists help missioners cover the hilly terrain to meet pastoral needs in the diocese.

Tribal dances and music filled the episcopal ordination ceremony, especially in the entrance and offertory processions. Tribal leaders also felicitated the new bishop in traditional fashion by presenting shawls.

Bishop Mukala´s 73-year-old mother, who lives in Kerala, traveled some 3,500 kilometers with relatives to attend the event. The visitors said Bishop Mukala is the 23rd bishop from their Pala diocese.

END

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