Pope names new bishop of Itanagar in the northeast Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh

Pope Francis has appointed Father Benny Varghese Edathattel (53), a priest belonging to the diocese of Kohima, Nagaland, as the second Bishop of Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India.

The announcement was made on June 29.

Currently, he is the executive secretary of the Catechetical Commission of the Northeastern Regional Bishops’ Council and the director of the Diocesan Pastoral Center, Chumukedima, at Dimapur.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop John Thomas Kattrukudiyil (75) from the pastoral care of the Itanagar Diocese. He was the Bishop of Diphu (1994–2005) in Assam and the Bishop of Itanagar (2005–2023).

Father Edathattel was born on April 22, 1970, in Njayappilly, in the Syro-Malabar eparchy of Kothamangalam, in Kerala, south India.

He attended the Good Shepherd Minor Seminary in Dimapur, then studied philosophy at the Salesian College in Dimapur and theology at the Oriens Theological College in Shillong, and was ordained a priest on April 19, 1999, for the diocese of Kohima.

He has held the following offices and carried out further studies: assistant parish priest of St. Thomas Church and vice principal of St. John School, Tuensang (1999-2002); dean of studies and administrator of St. Xavier's Seminary and director of the Agricultural Training and Production Centre, Jalukie (2002-2004).

He also studied for the Diploma in Pastoral Ministry and the Master in Pastoral Theology with a specialization in Small Christian Communities at the East Asian Pastoral Institute, in Manila; assistant parish priest of Our Lady of the Abandoned, in Marikina, in the Philippines (2004-2007).

Secretary of the Bishop of Kohima and diocesan coordinator of the Small Christian Communities (2007–2011); Master of History at Gauhati University (2008–2010); parish priest of St. Peter's in Kiphire, Nagalang (2011–2016); Bachelor of Education at the Mirza Teachers' Training College, Assam (2012–2013); administrator at St. Joseph's College, Jakhama; and visiting professor at Oriens Theological College, Shillong (2016–2020).

Since 2021, he has been parish priest of the St. Joseph's Center in Songlhuh.

The diocese of Itanagar was erected on December 7, 2005, by bifurcating the Tezpur diocese in Assam and appointing Bishop John Thomas Kattrukudiyil as its first Bishop.

The diocese includes 10 civil districts: Tawang, West Kameng, East Kameng, Papum Pare, Upper Subansiri, Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kamay, West Siang, East Siang, and Upper Siang in Arunachal Pradesh.

It borders the north of China, the south of the mother diocese of Tezpur, the east of the new diocese of Miao, and the west of Bhutan.

There are 90,822 Catholics, 52 parishes, 27 diocesan priests, 105 religious priests, and 170 nuns in the diocese. Adi, Aka, Apatani, Hill Miri, Monpa, Nyshi, and Tagin are the languages of the people in the Itanagar diocese.

The dedication and perseverance of the early Catholic leaders and catechists, who held on to their faith and spread it in the villages despite all restrictions and persecution, helped to spread the Catholic faith in Arunachal Pradesh.

The seed of faith germinated and took root under the watchful care of these great missionaries. The Benedictine brother Prem Bhai is known as the "apostle of Arunachal Pradesh". His missionary spirit took him beyond all borders and into every village in West Arunachal Pradesh. - Stephen Alathara