INDIA Twelve new priests, a sign of hope for Manipur

In the month of January, diocesan and religious ordinations were celebrated in several villages, presided over by the Archbishop of Imphal, Bishop Linus Neli. On the other hand, in the parish of Tuibuang, new houses have been delivered for those displaced by the attacks, built thanks to the solidarity of Catholic communities throughout India.

Imphal () – Twelve priestly ordinations in the archdiocese of Imphal, the Catholic Church of the Indian State of Manipur, which for more than a year and a half has been affected by serious ethnic violence that also hits the Christian community hard. It is a tangible sign of hope in the midst of so much suffering in this land where the Church never tires of promoting concrete paths of reconciliation between the Meitei and Kuki ethnic groups.

On January 5, Archbishop Linus Neli presided over the first of these ordinations in one of the villages. The first was that of Father Berno Ningrei, religious of the Society of Saint Paul. In the coming weeks, another 5 diocesan priests and 6 belonging to religious institutes will be ordained.

At the same time, the efforts of the Archdiocese of Imphal continue to transform the help received thanks to the mobilization of Catholic dioceses throughout India into opportunities for rebirth. “On Sunday, January 12 – Father Varghese Velickakam, vicar general of the archdiocese, tells – 50 houses were handed over to internally displaced people in the village of Gamnom, in the parish of Tuibuang. This effort was supported by the Association of the Franciscan Family of India (AFFI) and the Tamil Nadu Conference of Religious. Before the end of the month, 50 more homes will be delivered, and another 200 are being built. We hope to reach 480 by the end of March. We also distributed other relief items (coats, blankets, buckets), along with sacred images donated by the Fiat Mission movement. The houses are scattered throughout the territory and the village chief, who is Catholic, has also made available enough land for cultivation around the houses.”