Indian Archbishop Dominic
Jala, priest, die in road accident in the US
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| Archbishop Dominic Jala (L) |
Archbishop Dominic Jala of Shillong and Father Mathew
Vellankal, a 58-year old Indian priest of the Diocese of Oakland, died in a
traffic accident on October 10 in California, in the United States.
By Robin Gomes
Archbishop Dominic Jala of Shillong of north-east India’s
Meghalaya state and Father Mathew Vellankal, a 58-year old Indian-born priest
of the Diocese of Oakland, died last week a road accident in California in the
United States. Archbishop Jala was 68.
Circumstances
Fr. Vellankal was driving the archbishop and another Indian
priest, Fr. Joseph Parekkatt, to Clearlake in California, when the tragedy took
place. Their car was hit by a semi-truck in Colusa County.
Father Joseph Parekkatt, a pastor of St. Anne Parish also of
Oakland Diocese, was seriously injured in the collision. He is in stable
condition at Santa Rosa Hospital, the diocese said.
A statement by the California Highway Patrol said “the
driver of a Toyota Prius travelling westbound on SR-16 failed to yield to
traffic at SR-20". “The driver of the Prius pulled out from the stop sign
directly in front of a tractor/trailer and as a result, the Prius was broadsided.
The driver and right-front passenger of the Prius were killed and their rear
passenger sustained major injuries.”
On September 17, Archbishop Jala left Shillong for Rome,
where along with other Indian bishops he was on an “ad limina visit”, that heads
of dioceses are required to make every 5 years or so to report on the state of
their jurisdiction. He was among 44 Indian bishops who met Pope Francis as a
group on September 26.
A Shillong Archdiocesan source said the archbishop arrived
in Washington DC on September 30 to attend a meeting of the International
Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) in New York. He left for California
on October 6 to meet some of his priest friends.
Jala
Archbishop Jala was born on July 12, 1951, in Mawlai,
Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya state. He belongs to the Khasi people, the
majority ethnic group in the state.
He was ordained a priest for the Salesians of Don Bosco on
November 19, 1977. He was the Provincial of the Salesian Province of Guwahati.
Pope Saint John Paul II appointed him Archbishop of Shillong on December 22,
1999 and he was consecrated bishop on April 2, 2000.
With the transfer of Bishop Victor Lyngdoh of Nongstoin to
Jowai in October 2016, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Jala to serve also as
Apostolic Administrator of Nongstoin.
At the moment of his death, he was a member of the Vatican
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a member
of the ICEL and chairman of the Commission for Liturgy of the Conference of Catholic
Bishops of India (CCBI), which brings together the Latin-rite bishops of India.
He was also chairman of the Liturgy Commission of the North East India Regional
Bishops’ Council and was the author of the book “Liturgy and Mission.”
He was scheduled to return to Shillong on October 16,
according to the archdiocese.
Archbishop Jala is the second Indian archbishop to die in a
car accident abroad, after Archbishop Alan de Lastic of Delhi, who died on June
20, 2000, in a car crash in Poland.
Vellankal
Father Vellankal was a native of Kerala, South India. The
50-year old priest was the pastor of St. Isidore Parish in Danville,
California, since 2016. After completing high school, he joined the Salesians
and was ordained a priest in January 1987.
As a Salesian priest, he served in parishes and schools in
India before joining the Diocese of Oakland in 2001.
Father Vellankal was also known for his skills as a
magician, which he used in parish fundraising. He is the author of “From Humor
to Inspiration: Jokes, Reflections, and Quotes to Enliven Your Day,” published
in 2005.
Condolences
“Father Vellankal’s joyous spirit and faith will be deeply
missed,” Bishop Michael C. Barber of Oakland said. “May his soul and the soul
of Archbishop Jala rest in the peace of Christ,” the Jesuit bishop said.
Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar, the president of the
Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) has expressed the federation’s
condolences to the Archdiocese of Shillong, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
India (CBCI) and the CCBI for the loss of Archbishop Jala.
The Archdiocese of Bombay of CBCI president, Cardinal Oswald
Gracias, also extended its condolences to the Archdiocese of Shillong and to
the family of Bishop Dominic. “May his soul rest in peace and may perpetual
light shine upon him,” the archdiocese wrote on its webpage.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma described the death
of the Archbishop a loss of not only the Catholic Church but also of the state
as a whole. “We are all with you in this time of grief and it is a loss for all
of us,” he said.
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