Pope appoints Fr. Emmanuel Kerketta as bishop of Jashpur
(December 22, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday appointed a new bishop to the diocese
of Jashpur in central India’s Chhattisgarh state. Fr. Emmanuel Kerketta, the diocesan
administrator has been nominated bishop of Jashpur. The see of Jashpur has been vacant
since its first bishop Victor Kindo passed away on June 12, last year. Born in Gotmahua
village on March 16, 1952 Fr. Emmanuel Kerketta was ordained priest on May 5,
1984. As a priest he continued his secular studies and carried out several
pastoral, administrative and teaching tasks. Since the erection of Jashpur Diocese,
with Bishop Victor Kindo as its first bishop, Fr. Kerketta has been the Vicar General.
After Bishop Kindo’s death in 2008 he became the diocesan administrator. Jashpur
is a suffragan of Raipur Archdiocese. Spread across an area of almost 6,500 sqkm.,
it has over 188,000 Catholics out of a total population of about 743,000. The diocese’s
50 parishes are looked after by 170 diocesan and religious priests, and over 340 religious.