ASIA/INDIA - A Bishop and four priests from Odisha, land of martyrs

Bhubaneswar (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic community in the eastern Indian state of Odisha welcomes a new auxiliary bishop and four new priests: an extraordinary flourishing of vocations in a region marked by violence against Christians. The state of Odisha has been the scene of massacres that targeted believers of various Christian denominations in the Kandhamal district. In 2023, at the request of the Indian bishops, the Holy See granted the ‘Nihil Obstat’ in the beatification process of Kanteshwar Digal and his companions, the so-called 35 Martyrs of Kandhamal, who were killed in 2008 in the state of Odisha "in odium fidei". Now, a powerful testimony of faith is emerging from this region: around 3,000 faithful, including over 140 priests and nuns, participated yesterday, January 28, in the solemn Eucharistic celebration at St. Joseph's Parish in Godapur, in the Kandhamal district of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, to celebrate the ordination of four new priests. These are Father Sugrib Baliarsingh and Father George Badseth, as well as two other Conventual Franciscan priests, friars Saraj Nayak and Madan Baliarsingh OFM Conv. The ordination Mass was presided over by the new Auxiliary Bishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, Msgr. Rabindra Ranasingh, who is also from Kandhamal. “We are chosen by God to share in Christ’s threefold mission: to sanctify, that is, the priestly mission; to teach, the prophetic mission; and to govern, that is, the royal pastoral mission,” he said. Addressing the new priests, the bishop continued: “You are the presence and work of Christ, who has chosen you to serve His people, even at the cost of your life.”
As children, the four priests witnessed firsthand how their families and communities were torn apart during the anti-Christian violence that rocked Kandhamal in 2007 and 2008. Some lost parents, relatives, and their homes, while others were forced to flee into the forest, where they survived in fear, hunger, displacement, and uncertainty. Father Sugrib Baliarsingh recounts: “I saw hatred destroy lives, but I also experienced forgiveness and courage. That is what led me to the priesthood.” As Father Pradosh Chandra Nayak, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, noted, “The persecution sought to silence Christianity, but instead, it brought forth new Pastors who today bear witness and preach forgiveness and peace.”
Among the local faithful, the recent episcopal consecration of Rabindra Kumar Ranasingh, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, on January 17 of this year, also sparked renewed joy and hope. His appointment holds profound symbolic significance for a community that suffered under a wave of violence that left hundreds of Christians dead, over 60,000 people displaced, and thousands of homes and hundreds of churches burned, desecrated, or destroyed. Bamunigam Parish, where Kumar Ranasingh was the parish priest at the time, was one of the first parishes to be attacked. “After fifteen years, many wounds remain open on a human level: justice is still pending, livelihoods have not yet been fully restored, and the social fabric requires complete reconciliation,” notes Father Ajay Singh, a local priest and lawyer who is following the pending legal proceedings. For the persecuted Christians of Kandhamal, the episcopal consecration of Rabindra Kumar Ranasingh is “proof that faith has endured, hope is alive, and the love of Christ springs forth from the desert and suffering.” (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 29/1/2026)

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