A Catholic bishop in a southern Indian diocese has set an example of social responsibility even during the lockdown.

Bishop Prince Antony Panengaden of Adilabad in Telangana State rushed to Mittapally, a village in the Mancherial district, when he heard that a fire had destroyed the house of Shankarayya, a paralytic and father of nine.

The fire incident occurred on May 19 and the bishop came to know it the following day when he called the residents of Mittapally as part of his pastoral duty of inquiring about his faithful.

The village has only ten Catholic families and the bishop visits them often.

Bishop Panengaden knew Shankarayya, the father of six girls and three boys, could not go for work because of his physical disability. The family survives on the earnings of the sons, who are daily wagers. On May 20 itself, the prelate visited the village, 18 km away from his residence, to study Shankarayya’s condition.

On his return from Mittapally, the prelate formed a team of priests, youth and other villagers to help Shankarayya.

“Fire incidents are common in those villages mainly due to the faulty electrical wiring,” Bishop Panengaden told Matters India over phone on May 24.

He said he formed the team as the diocese has no funds to build the house. He then suggested the team to help Shankarayya through physical work.

“Our diocese has no money, so we can’t provide any monetary help to people. What we could do is to help them through our physical work,” he added.

The bishop went with his team to the village in the early morning of May 22 and started the house’s foundation work. Besides the bishop, the team comprised five priests, seven young people and a few local villagers.