Bishop appointed in Jhabua District Madhya Pradesh

File photo of Rev. Fr. Basil Bhuriya, who was appointed by Pope Francis as the Bishop of Jhabua district, Madhya Pradesh on 18th July 2015.

On Saturday Father Basil Bhuriya was appointed as the new bishop of Jhabua, by Pope Francis, in the Central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh. The 59- year-old priest, the first form Bhil tribe to become a bishop.

He previously held the office of parish priest and member of the Provincial Council of Divine Word Society along with the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese from the last two years.

The diocese was vacant after Divine Word Bishop Devprasad Ganawa was transferred to Udaipur on December 21, 2012.

The new bishop was in 1956 in Panchkui parish of the diocese and studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Athenaeum of Pune.

Ordained a priest in 1986, for the Society, he has served as parish priest in the Gujarat and Vadodara Diocese. He was the vice rector and later rector of St. Thomas Seminary in Indore.

The diocese, suffragan of the archdiocese of Bhopal, has some 38, 500 Catholics. It has some 30 parishes, served by 68 priests, 26 religious brothers and 211 nuns.