Pope Francis has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Telesphore Bilung of Ranchi as the new bishop of Jamshedpur in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand.
The announcement was made in Rome on All saints day, November 1.
The Diocese of Jamshedpur had been without a bishop for about three years. Its former Bishop Felix Toppo was transferred to Ranchi as archbishop on June 24, 2018.
Bishop Telesphore had been the apostolic administrator of the diocese since June 20, 2019. He has been a priest for 29 years and a bishop for seven years.
Jamshedpur Diocese was erected on July 2, 1962, and spreads over territories in the Indian states of Jharkhand and West Bengal.
It comprises the districts of East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharswan, Dhanbad, a portion of Bokaro district, while in West Bengal, it covers Purulia district.
Catholics in the diocese mostly come from the Ho, Munda and Santhal tribes living in the villages. The larger towns of Jamshedpur, Purulia and Dhanbad have a floating population migrating from various parts of India.
There are about 60,000 Catholics in the diocese, which has 146 priests and 318 religious sisters
Bishop Bilung was born on April 15, 1961, at Sargidipa in the Diocese of Rourkela in Odisha. In 1979, he joined the Jyoti Bhavan Minor Seminary in Sambalpur. He entered the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1985.
He professed his first vows in 1986 and his solemn profession was in 1991. He was ordained a priest on May 2, 1992, in Gaibira in the Diocese of Rourkela. From 1986-92, he completed his studies in philosophy and theology at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune.
He served as assistant parish priest in Puri from 1992-94 and as rector of the minor seminary in Sambalpur from 1994-96. In 2005, he was made chairman of the vocation board.
In 2007, he became pastor of Premnagar in the Archdiocese of Calcutta. He was the provincial councilor from 2008-11 and rector of the SVD minor seminary in Lungai from 2010-11. Since 2011, he has been the provincial superior of the Divine Word Missionaries.
He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Ranchi on May 6, 2014. He was ordained a bishop on August 30, 2014, in Ranchi. On June 20, 2019, he was appointed apostolic administrator Sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the Diocese of Jamshedpur.
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