Requiem mass held at Provincial House in Guwahati
GUWAHATI: Tributes were paid to Archbishop Dominic Jala, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Shillong after the mortal remains were brought to the LGBI Airport on Sunday afternoon and to the Don Bosco Provincial House here en route to Meghalaya.
Meghalaya chief minister, Conrad K Sangma, along with ministers, MLAs, MDCs and other leaders from the state were at the LGBI Airport to pay their tribute to Archbishop Jala who passed away following a road accident in the United States on October 10, 2019.
A requiem mass was led by Archbishop of Guwahati, John Moolachira at the Provincial House here attended by a large gathering comprising Catholic Bishops of North East India, Church leaders, members of the Salesian family, members of the Archdiocese of Shillong among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Archbishop of Guwahati, John Moolachira, who is also president of North East India Regional Bishops Council, remembered Archbishop Dominic Jala as a “simple, friendly, very sincere and hardworking person”.
En route to Shillong, the mortal remains of the Archbishop was taken to the Byrnihat Parish, Nongpoh Parish and Mawlai Parish.
From October 21 till the funeral on October 23, the mortal remains will be kept in the Cathedral Church for people to pay their last respects. The funeral will take place at the Cathedral of mary Help of Christians, Laitumkhrah, on Wednesday
After the Ad Limina visit of the Bishops of North East India in Rome, Archbishop Jala had gone to the US to attend a meeting of the ICEL (International Commission for English Liturgy) and to meet some of his friends.
The accident occurred while he was travelling with two other priests, Fr. Mathew Vellankal and Fr. Joseph Parekatt. While the Archbishop and Fr. Mathew Vellankal died on the spot, Fr. Joseph was admitted to the hospital with serious injuries.
Born on July 12, 1951 at Mawlai in the Archdiocese of Shillong, Archbishop Jala, was appointed the Archbishop of the same diocese in December 1999. At the transfer of Bishop Victor Lyngdoh to the diocese of Jowai in 2017, Archbishop Dominic Jala was also appointed the apostolic Administrator of the diocese of Nongstoin.
Before being appointed archbishop, he was the provincial of the Salesians of Don Bosco of Guwahati Province. He was actively involved in all matters connected with the Church in North East India and Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).
Archbishop Jala was also the chairman of NEIRBC from 2012 to 2019 (September) and the chairman of the Liturgical commission of the CBCI for several years,” the council president said.