Bishop Raphy Manjaly is installed as the 11th Bishop of Allahabad by His Grace Archbishop Salvatore Pinnacchio, the Apostolic Nuncio of India in the presence of 20 bishops, almost 200 priests and over 2000 nuns and lay people in the St. Joseph College grounds on 3rd December, 2013 at 9:30 am IST.
The ceremony began with a brief introduction of Bishop Raphy by Miss Shanta Peter the National Youth awardee for 2013 followed by a dance by the trainees from St. Mary’s Junior College of Education welcoming and leading all the priests, Bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio of India to the Holy Altar at the College premises which was decorated beautifully.
In the beginning of the installation ceremony, Bishop Raphy was presented as the candidate for by Fr. Isidore D’Souza who conducted the proceedings of the ceremony. His Excellency Salvatore Pinnacchio asked him whether he has any mandate from the Holy See. On production of the ‘Papal Bull’, Msgr Marco Sprizzi the Counselor of the Nunciature read it out in Latin, a translation of which was given by Fr. Francis Xavier J. Bishop Raphy was then offered the ‘Crosier’ as a sign of authority and service of a good shepherd and was made to sit on the ‘Cathedra’ by the Nuncio, Archbishop Albert D’Souza and Bp. Ignatius Menezes.
Thereafter, His Excellency Salvatore Pinnacchio gave his message in English, a brief translation of which was read out in Hindi by Fr. Vipin D’Souza. The nuncio showered the blessings of Pope Francis and spelling out his message exhorted that it is the responsibility of all the priests to carry out the message of Jesus and urged all the faithful of the diocese to cooperate with the new Bishop and work with the spirit of brotherhood.
All the priests and religious representatives of Allahabad then vowed their allegiance to the newly appointed Bishop. Bishop Raphy then offered the Holy Mass along with the bishops and priests.
Rt. Rev. Gerald Mathias, Bishop of Lucknow preached an inspiring homily enumerating the good qualities of a good shepherd. He stressed on the three qualities of the Bishop, that is, “to teach, to sanctify and to govern” must be followed by each and every one to ensure betterment of the mankind. Rev. Fr. Reginald D’Souza and the Seminarians from St. Joseph’s Regional Seminary along with the representatives from various institutions of Allahabad melodiously voiced the choir for the Holy Mass.
After the Holy Mass a small felicitation programme was organized. This began with a splendid welcome dance by the students of St. Mary’s Convent Inter College, Allahabad. Rev. Fr. Rolfie D’Souza welcomed the Apostolic Nuncio. Then Rev. Fr. William Mathias felicitated the interim bishop, Most Rev. Ignatius Menezes who served Allahabad diocese for 11 months since January 31, 2013 as the Apostolic Administrator. Bishop Menezes in his address thanked all the priests of Allahabad for their warmth and cooperation in all his activities pertaining to the diocese.
Rev. Fr. Louis Mascarenhas welcomed the new bishop Raphy Manjaly to the diocese of Allahabad equating his qualities with the rich cultural heritage of Allahabad. He emphasized that with his vast knowledge and experience Bishop Raphy would certainly proved to be a true shepherd for the priest and all the faithful of the diocese, and would ensure that the teachings of the Lord is preserved and spread across the diocese.
Most Rev. Dr. Albert D’Souza, the archbishop of Agra also highlighted the qualities of Bishop Bishop Raphy and felicitated him on behalf of the Agra Ecclesiastical Region. Bishop Raphy Manjaly thanked all the people for their presence and prayers. He then expressed his desire that he wants to make the diocese of Allahabad a vibrant one in the region.
The students of St. Joseph’s College then presented a dance sequence highlighting the preaching of “Jesus as the healer” and good Shepherd.
Rev. Fr. Thomas Kumar proposed the vote of thanks on behalf of all the priest of the Diocese followed by Papal Anthem.
There were 500 religious nuns and 1500 laity present from all over the diocese comprising of Allahabad, Kanpur, Sonebadhra and Sultanpur zones. There were priests, nuns and laity from the neighbouring dioceses of Varanasi, Lucknow and Agra too. Mr. Anthony Dev Kumar the IG of Allahabad also was present during this occasion. The representatives from various other religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, Islam and Parsee also were present to greet the newly appointed bishop. The pastors from the Ecumenical Churches also made their presence felt.
Fr. Sebastian Francis, Mr. Aubrey McGowen and Mr. Shantha Peter were the anchors for the ceremonies. The felicitation programme came to an end with the ‘Papal Anthem’.