Bishop from new diocese in India visits area parish

MEETS WITH INDIAN BISHOP  Msgr. John Demkovich, diocesan director of the Mission Office, meets Bishop Peter Abir Antonysamy of the Sultanpet Diocese in Kerala, India.

Bishop from India shares his story about the faithful in his new diocese

CLIFTON  Bishop Peter Abir Antonysamy of Diocese of Sultanpet in Palakkad, India, has traveled thousands of miles from home to come to the Paterson Diocese to share the story about the faithful he leads in his new diocese, which is less than two years old.

Pope Francis established the Diocese of Sultanpet on Dec. 28, 2013, part of Kerala, a southwest state in India, making it the 31st diocese in the region. Bishop Antonysamy was named by the Pope as the first bishop of the diocese that same day.

For Bishop Antonysamy, who was ordained a priest in 1979, building the diocese has been an interesting and exciting challenge as he gets to know the flock he is shepherding. “I am learning a lot about the people in the region. I am from a different part of India so I’ve been learning the language of their state and about their hopes for the future,” he said.

During his visit to the Paterson Diocese, Bishop Antonysamy went to St. Catherine of Bologna Parish in Ringwood and also had a meeting with Bishop Serratelli.

His episcopal motto gives insight to the Diocese of Sultanpet’s mission, “Broken to Build.” Bishop Antonysamy said, “We hope to uplift the life of the most vulnerable, the poorest, the disadvantaged and the neglected of the society.”

Father Pawel Szurek, administrator of St. Catherine’s, hosted the Indian bishop and said, “Bishop Peter is very passionate about what he is doing in this new diocese and he really wants great things for the people. He feels like the father of the diocese because he is its first leader. At St. Catherine’s, we are calling this mission ‘project motorcycle’ because the priests visit village to village on motorcycles. We are hoping we are able to raise money to buy a new one for them.”

In the region of the Sultanpet Diocese, there are about 1.7 million people made up of Hindus, Muslims and Christians. The new diocese was started to serve and to deepen the faith of the Catholics living in the area. About 31,600 people belong to the Roman Catholic Church.

Because the diocese is so young and has so many needs, Bishop Antonysamy has been visiting dioceses around the U.S. this summer bringing awareness of his diocese to the faithful here and seeking prayers and donations to help build up the infrastructure in his diocese.

“Our dream is to build new churches, retreat centers, provide equal opportunities to all the poor and orphan children and establish relief programs in times of disaster. Also, we plan on establishing disease-prevention and family encounter centers to spread health awareness and create better nutritious and environmental behavior among the people in the diocese,” Bishop Antonysamy said.

In his diocese, the bishop also hopes to create centers for job training for men and women so they can become more self-sufficient. Many of the people in Kerala are migrants seeking jobs. In general, people are often illiterate, unemployed and live in perennial poverty.

Another focus is ensuring the Catholic Church in Sultanpet is growing for years to come. Currently, there are 23 priests and 12 religious priests serving in the 21 parishes and 56 mission centers of Sultanpet. There are also 125 religious sisters involved in spiritual, education, evangelization, social and pastoral ministries of the diocese. The diocese also has 35 seminarians in formation.

There are also plans to train and educate future missionaries including priests, catechists and lay ministers for special mission services in the Church to follow the example of missionaries such as St. Francis Xavier, who spread the Catholic faith throughout India.

Bishop Antonysamy said, “In our missionary endeavor, it is very important, as St. John Paul II mentions in the context of the universal mission, that we need to be open to the needs of one another. As Catholics, each individual brings their own individual gifts to the other person and the whole. Together, each individual grows greater through the mutual communication of all and their united efforts towards fullness in unity and life.”

[Information: www.sultanpetdiocese.org.]