TURA: In a first for the Catholic faith in the Garo Hills, senior priest Fr Jose Chirackal, who has spent decades in this region working for the church, has been appointed as the first Auxiliary Bishop of Tura by the Vatican on Monday.
The Auxiliary Bishop will assist the Bishop of Tura, Andrew R Marak, in his official and church duties.
“In the light of the Communication received from the Apostolic Nunciature, I wish to inform you that the His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Rev Fr Jose Chirackal, of the Clergy of Tura, as Auxiliary Bishop of Tura. This provision was made public in Rome on Monday,” read an official statement from Felix Anthony Machado, the Archbishop and Secretary General of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).
There are three types of bishops in the Catholic Church – Diocesan Bishop, who heads the church and clergy in his diocese; a coadjutor bishop, who takes over in the event of a bishop passing away while in office or who resigns; and the auxiliary bishop, who helps the governing bishop and assists him in day-to-day work.
Bishop Andrew was the Coadjutor Bishop of Tura from 2004 to 2007. He was ordained the Bishop of Tura after the retirement of Bishop George Mamalassery in 2007.
Sixty-year-old Fr Jose Chirackal was born on July 14, 1960, in Karukutty, Kerala, in the Major Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly, and was ordained priest on December 29, 1987, for the Diocese of Tura.
After the schooling in Kerala, he joined the Diocese of Tura in 1976.
Fr Jose Chirackal studied at St. Paul’s Minor Seminary, Shillong; Philosophy at Christ King College, Shillong; and Theology at Oriens Theological College, Shillong.
He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Anthony’s College, and later a Licentiate and Doctorate in Canon Law from Università Urbaniana, Roma, in 1995.
