Bp Alex Tharamangalam, Auxiliary  Mananthavady

Bp. Alex Tharamangalam is born on 20 April,  1958 in Thalassery archdiocese and ordained on January 1,1983. He was a teacher of philosophy in St. Thomas Seminary Vadavathoor and became rector there from 2010- 2015 He was syncellus of the archdiocese from 2016 -2022.

Mananthavady Diocese :

Catholic population – 1.7 lakhs   |  Parishes-  161   |  Priests -272   |  Institutions – 19

As a new Bishop what will be your motto, and why did you opt it?

My motto: ‘That they all may be one’ (Jn 17, 21). Since humans do not have a hopeful future without love and unity, I have chosen it.

When and where will be your episcopal ordination?

Episcopal Consecration will take place on 1 November 2022 at the Pastoral Centre, Dwaraka, Mananthavady.

You are presently appointed as the auxiliary bishop of Mananthavady, how will you describe the diocese and its people? What is their present urgent need and challenge?

Most of the people here are farmers. They face problems like buffer zone threat, wild animals’ attack, low prices for the agricultural products, lack of sufficient travel facilities and health care systems, etc.

There is an upsurge of fundamentalist tendencies everywhere in religions and society? How to live and function as Christian? How do we relate to other religions among us?

We can overcome communal problems through intelligent dialogues. Here the vision of the people (of the groups concerned) are very important. The purer the vision, the greater is the communion, so is my observation. Hence Christianity can permeate through all cultures through her good tidings!

As a Bishop your close associates are the priests, how do you envisage your leadership which is a relation with priests sisters and laypeople. You have been Rector of Kottayam Seminary? There is crisis of authority, how to overcome it?

We learn the situation of the people through proper dialogues with the priest, sisters and the lay people. Healthy conversations, prudent decisions and intelligent action are the best means to overcome crises everywhere.

You have been teaching philosophy for years, Martin Heidegger himself a Catholic and a seminarian later said against Catholicism: “Christianity as a mask for the assertion of a now-brittle global domination.” Pope Francis is speaking of Synodality and speaking as a way of deciphering the will of God? Have we fallen to the Platonic and Caesar’s notions of political power?

Martin Heidegger’s statement is his personal observation. Although I appreciate his philosophical insights, I do not fully agree with him in this regard. There may be political power mongers everywhere. Church leadership has to be aware of the imminent pitfalls!

You are becoming a Bishop of the Syro-Malabar Church in India, how far the a minority Eastern Catholic church live and work in India with a rich culture of philosophy of Hindu majority and Hindutva politics? How do you envisage the mission mandate of Jesus Christ?

We speak of pluralism now. Let that flourish in the case of the existence and actions of the small communities like the Eastern Catholic Church. Rose ower spreads its fragrance everywhere! Mission mandate is good news for all generations.

Why do you pray and how? What is prayer for you?

Jesus says: ‘Without me you can do nothing’. Hence prayer is power … slowly, life becomes a communion with the Other in prayer. I make use of the liturgical and non-liturgical prayers available in the Catholic Church.