Bishop John Mulagada of Eluru dies

Bishop of Eluru Diocese passes away
Staff Reporter
ELURU: Bishop of Eluru Diocese Most Rev. Mulagada John passed away while undergoing treatment in a corporate hospital in Vijayawada on Sunday. The 72-year-old Bishop was indisposed for quite some time. Although he breathed his last on Sunday noon, the church authorities officially declared his death late in the night after obtaining permission from the papacy in Vatican City.


Rev. John, hailing from Mariveedu village of Prathipadu in East Godavari district, was ordained priest on January 4, 1965 at Salur and consecrated as the Bishop of Eluru Diocese in 1977. He was the first Dalit to become a Bishop in the State. Rev. John was also the first Bishop of Eluru Diocese, covering West Godavari and Konaseema area in East Godavari district, after bifurcation from Vijayawada Diocese. He was credited with establishing a seminary at Janampet, a Dental College at Duggirala in West Godavari district during his period as the Bishop. Having lost his parents at an early age, Rev. John lent a helping hand to a host of orphans and street children.

The body was kept at the Bishop House at Xavier Nagar enabling the people to pay him respects. The visitors, who paid respects to the departed Bishop included Rocco from Italy, Carlos of Argentina, John Antony from Tamil Nadu—Superiors from the Order of Friars Minor-Capuchin (O.F.M.-Cap) and local MP Kavuri Sambhasiva Rao and P Mathew, president of Vigyana Nilayam, an institute of Philosophy and Theology which Rev. John established. The funeral will take place here on Tuesday.


All the schools and colleges run by the Catholic church and the other missionary institutes will remain closed on Tuesday. According to the church sources, Balthazar, Vicar General of the 8-member Bishop Council, has been entrusted with the arrangements for the funeral.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/08/18/stories/2009081851560300.htm