By SAR NEWS
March 31 - BUXAR, Bihar: Newly ordained Bishop William D’Souza of Buxar Diocese, inaugurated March 25, plans to preach the Gospel through service.
About Bishop William D`Souza:
Born Madanthar - 5 Mar 1946
Ordained Priest (Priest of Society of Jesus) 3 May 1976
Appointed Bishop - 12 December 2005
Ordained Bishop Bishop of Buxar, India - 25 March 2006
Thanking the bishops, clergy, religious and laypersons present for his Episcopal ordination, Bishop D’Souza said he would try to practise Christ’s message, “I have come not to be served but to serve.”
The Episcopal ordination was held in the campus of the Catholic Church (now Cathedral) at Buxar, headquarters of Buxar District, 118 kilometres west of Patna, capital of Bihar. The ceremony was presided over by Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, Pope’s ambassador to India, assisted by Jesuit Archbishop Benedict John Osta of Patna, bishops from 11 other dioceses from the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. Over 5000 laypersons besides some 150 priests, brothers and over 100 nuns attended the function.
In his first message to the people of his diocese, Jesuit Bishop D’Souza recalled the works of the founding Jesuit missionaries who had worked in the area since the late 1930s. “What we see today, including the privilege of having a diocese of our own, is the result of their work,” he said. “My aim is to carry on the service of the Gospel expressed through service to the people,” he said.
The newly created diocese spread in four districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Rohtas and Kaimur in the Bhojpuri-speaking Shahabad region of southwest Bihar, has some 24,000 Catholics besides a few thousand Protestants who had been in the area since the 1890s. Over 50 Pentecostal, groups which have come to the area in the past two decades, claim to have some 15,000 members.
Though evangelisation work in Bihar region was begun by the Capuchins in 1707, the Buxar diocese area was first evangelised by the Jesuits in 1937. Ever since, the Jesuits, secular priests of Patna Archdiocese and sisters from 8 congregations have been working in the area as pastors, educators, health workers, social activists, and so on.
Buxar Diocese has 15 parishes or mission centres, 6 high schools, 11 middle and 16 primary schools, 9 health centres, besides scores of social action centres, self-help groups and women development centres.
Felicitating the new bishop, Archbishop Osta of Patna emphasised the overall development of the Christian community of Buxar Diocese, which was bifurcated from the Patna Archdiocese.
Speaking in the local dialect, Bhojpuri, he thanked the Pope for creating a new diocese for the Bhojpuri-speaking region of his archdiocese. There can be greater development of the Christian community provided there is unity between the bishop, clergy, religious and people, he said.
The Christians of Shahabad are mostly Dalits belonging to five castes, reads an eight-page introductory brochure prepared for the occasion.
Felicitating the new bishop, the District Magistrate of Buxar, Rashid Ahmed Khan, thanked the missionaries for their institutional service for the development of the people of Buxar district, especially the poor and marginalised sections such as the Schedules Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
“I thank the Christian missionaries on behalf of the people of the district and in the name of humanity, for their great work of development of the poor, the landless, and the handicapped,” he said.
Recalling several veteran missionaries, Jesuits and diocesan clergy, who had worked in the area, Bishop D’Souza, who has been six years parish priest in Itarhi parish of Buxar district, said, “I want to trail the paths of these dedicated visionaries.”
Known for his pastoral orientation, Bishop D’Souza has worked in parishes in North Bihar’s Champaran District, besides being the diocesan administrator of Muzaffarpur Diocese and Provincial of Patna Jesuits for six years till 2001.