Bangalore, June 29, 2023 (CCBI): His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Fr. 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 Thursday, June 29, 2023. Currently, he is the Executive Secretary of the Catechetical Commission of the Northeastern Regional Bishops’ Council and the Director of the Diocesan Pastoral Centre, 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).
Fr Benny Varghese Edathattel was born on 22 April 1970 in Njayappilly, in the Syro-Malabar eparchy of Kothamangalam, in Kerala. 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 19 April 1999 for the clergy of Kohima.
He has held the following offices and carried out further studies: assistant pastor 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 cum Production Centre, Jalukie (2002-2004); Studies for the Diploma in Pastoral Ministry and the Master in Pastoral Theology with 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); Studies for the Master in 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 of St. Joseph’s College in 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 appointed 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 of Arunachal Pradesh. It borders to the north on China, a south on the mother diocese of Tezpur, to the east on the new diocese of Miao and to the west on Bhutan. There are 90, 822 Catholics; 52 parishes; 27 diocesan priests; 105 religious priests and 170 religious sisters in the diocese. Adi, Aka, Apatani, Hill Miri, Monpa, Nyshi, Tagin, etc are the languages of the people in Itanagar diocese.
The Catholic faith in Arunachal Pradesh was facilitated by the commitment and spirit of perseverance of the early Catholic leaders and catechists, who, resisting all prohibitions and persecutions, held on to their faith and proclaimed it in the villages. The seed of faith germinated and took root under the watchful care of these great missionaries. The Benedictine brother Prem Bhai, known as the “apostle of Arunachal Pradesh”. His missionary spirit took him beyond all borders and into every village in West Arunachal Pradesh.
Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara
Deputy Secretary General, CCBI