5 Jesuit Deacons ordained; Archbishop emphasizes 7 hallmarks of Priesthood
Bengaluru, December 01: Over 650 people from across Bengaluru and beyond congregated at the auditorium of St. Josephs College Auditorium in Shantinagar to witness the ordination of 5 Jesuit deacons, December 01 at 10 am.
The deacons Felix A (St. Josephs Church, Solur), Cyril Raj (Sacred Heart Church, Silvepura) Sujay Daniel (St. Anthony’s Church, Madiwala), Bala Kiran Kumar and John Thomas (Holy Rosary Church, Horobale) were felicitated by the Jesuit community after the Ordination service. The Archbishop expressed his gratitude to the parents for their prayers and sacrifice in offering their sons to the Priesthood.
Archbishop Most. Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras, (Archbishop of Bangalore Archdiocese) who addressed the ordinands against a backdrop themed ‘To be the Fountains of Mercy’ emphasized on 7 hallmarks of priesthood as understood and envisaged by Pope Francis. “The strength of a priest depends on his relationship with Christ, his closeness to Christ must translate into closeness to the people he serves, his authority must be linked to service, he must be an untiring minister of mercy and forgiveness, avoid vanity and pursue simplicity of life, must be a model of integrity and become a source of constant blessing to people”.
The prelate who was addressed a packed auditorium of over 100 religious and diocesan priests, 50 nuns and lay Faithful in Kannada and English saying “The touchstone of how deeply a priest is living his vocation is the extent to which he seeks Christ in his daily life”. Quoting Pope Francis the Prelate said “Priests must be shepherds living with the smell of the sheep” adding that priests are truly to be pastors rather than administrators and “must go out to meet people, especially the lost sheep”.
The Archbishop also stressed on the importance of ministering to the poorest of the poor, the weak, the marginalized and those easily forgotten. To do this, he said “Priests must leave their comfort zones and have real contact with the poor and marginalized”. Reiterating Pope Francis’ exhortation he also stressed “There can be no place for priests in haughty clericalism, any kind of abuse of their position or a concern to climb the ecclesial career ladder. Priests should understand that authority derives not from worldly power but from personal integrity and humility in imitation of Christ”.
Fr. Jerome Stanislaus D’Souza, Provincial of the Jesuits in Karnataka informed the gathering that there are presently 16,376 Jesuits in the world, of which 298 are in Karnataka. While felicitating and thanking the Archbishop he said “The Archbishop’s relationship with the Jesuits is like a fatherly figure”. To the newly ordained he said “In all your years of formation you said ‘Jesus you are for me and I am for you’. Continue to live up to those words all through your priestly ministry.