Pope Appoints Two New Bishops in India
Pope Francis on June 8 appointed a new bishop in Raiganj and an auxiliary bishop in Miao.
Pope Francis on Friday made two appointments in India. He nominated Father Fulgence Aloysius Tigga as Bishop of Raiganj Diocese in the eastern state of West Bengal, and Father Dennis Panipitchai has been appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Miao Diocese, in Arunachal Pradesh state, northeast India.
Diocese of Raiganj
The seat of Raiganj has been vacant since the death of Bishop Alphonsus D’Souza on April 30, 2016.
A priest of Bettiah Diocese, Bihar, Father Fulgence Tigga, the bishop-designate of Raiganj was born on March 3, 1965, in Katkahi in the Diocese of Gumla. Jharkhand He completed his Philosophical studies in Vishwa Jyoti Gurukul, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and Theology at the Bhopal Regional Seminary, Ashta, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Hindi from Allahabad University, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
Father Tigga was ordained a priest on March 3, 1997 for the Diocese of Muzaffarpur. He was then incardinated into the new Diocese of Bettiah when it was created in 1998.
Diocese of Miao
Auxiliary Bishop-designate Fr. Dennis Panipitchai of Miao, a Salesian of Don Bosco, was born on July 27, 1958, in Colachel, Diocese of Kottar, in southern India’s Tamil Nadu state.
After attending St. Mary’s Parish School in Colachel, Fr. Panipitchai entered the Salesian pre-novitiate of Shillong in Meghalaya in 1976. He later completed his philosophical studies at the Divyadaan Salesian Institute of Philosophy in Nashik, Maharashtra.
After a year of regency in Kheti, Tinsukia, Assam, he completed his theological studies at Sacred Heart Theological College in Shillong. He has Masters degrees in Theology and Economics.
His solemn profession as a Salesian and his priestly ordination took place the same day on December 27, 1991.