India: First Bishop of Rourkela Dies at the age of 89

Bishop Alphonse Bilung SVD, Bishop emeritus of Rourkela  of Orissa breathed his last at the age of 89 on 11 November 2022 at 9.40 pm at  Catholic Mission Hospital, Nuagaon (Rourkela).

The funeral Mass of Bishop Alphonse Bilung SVD will be held on 15th of November 2022 (Tuesday) at Kesramal Parish at 10:00am followed by the burial in the Parish cemetery.

The mortal remains of Bishop Alphonse Bilung will be kept in Prathnalaya, Hamirpur for those who would like to pay homage, and pray.

Bishop Alphonse was born 5th June 1933 to late Mr. Paulus Bilung and Mrs. Paulina Bilung at Dandjamura village, of Kusumdegi Parish of the diocese Rourkela in the state of odisha. After completing the initial schooling at Kusmdehi and Hamirpur boy’s Scholl which was run by Divine Word Missionaries, joined the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1951.

After completing his novitiate, he made his first profession at Palda, Indore in 1956. He completed his Philosophy (1956-58) and Theology (1958-61) at Jnanadeep Vidya Peeth, Pune. He made his final Profession in 1961 and was ordained a priest on 3rd October 1961 at Sacred Heart Cathedral of Rourkela Diocese.

After his pastoral course at Jharsuguda, he was appointed to Sambalpur Mission in December 1961. He served this mission in different capacities. He was the Assistant Priest at Kesramal from 1962 -1964. He was Hostel Superintend at Gaibira from 1964-1965. He was re-appointed at Kesramal from 1966-70 as In-charge of the school and simultaneously he was appointed as the In charge of the Elementary Teachers’ Training School.

Later in 1970 he went Rome for his Nemi Course and completed M.Th in Louvain University, Belgium from 1970-1972. He was appointed as the Rector of SVD Community and Secretary of the New Odisha High School Gaibira in 1972.

It was during this time, Bishop Hermann Westermann, SVD, the then Bishop of Sambalpur asked him to be the Vicar General of the Diocese Sambalpur. To this invitation he said, “I am ready to accept this post, but give me a small parish. I want to be a pastor and serve the people.” Therefore, he was appointed as the Parish Priest of the Catholic Church Hamirpur in 1972 as well as the Vicar General of the Diocese.

In 1974, Bishop Raphael Cheennath, SVD succeeded Bishop Westermann, as the bishop of Sambalpur Diocese. Once again he was appointed as the Vicar General of Sambalpur Diocese.

After a year in 1975, he was appointed as the Regional Superior of Sambalpur Region of the SVD at Jharsuguda. He was appointed one of the General Consulters at the Generalate in Rome in 1977. While in Rome, Rourkela Diocese was carved out from Sambalpur Diocese in 1979, and Alphonse Bilung was appointed as the first Bishop of Rourkela Diocese. His Episcopal Ordination was on 3 November 1979.

He served the diocese of Rourkela as a Good Shepherd for 30 long years.

During these 30 years he worked tirelessly for the faith formation, proclamation, evangelization, education, health care, vocation and socio-economic development as a whole in the Diocese. He left no stone unturned in the mission work.

Due to his hard work and zeal for the soul, the Christian population grew day by day. The number of priests and the Religious Vocation also grew. For the growth and faith formation of the people, many parishes were established in the rural as well as in the urban areas and many Religious Congregations were invited to work in the Diocese.  In the field of education his achievements and contribution will be remembered for the generations to come.

As a shepherd of the Diocese he had love, compassion, care, dedication and loving approach in the pastoral life. He knew his faithful by name. He knew the life of the people and reached out his hands for timely help. He worked cordially with the Government officials. Due to his cordial approach he was able to do all the official work personally.

After the retirement he was staying in Catholic Mission Hospital Nuagaon in priest’s resident. Since 2017 he has been staying at Bishop’s house, Hamirpur.

He was a priest for 61 years and a Bishop for 43 years.