» 01/03/2004 18:20 BANGLADESH First bishop belonging to tribal minority
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Dhaka (AsiaNews) – Msgr. Ponen Paul Kubi of the order of Holy Cross Missionaries, is the first tribal member to be elected as bishop of Bangladesh. The bishop belongs to the Mandi tribe, a minority in the country but to which a vast majority of Catholics belong. All previous bishops of Bangladesh belonged to old Bengalese families with Portuguese surnames (e.g. Costa, D'Rozario, Gomes, etc), who were evangelized to in the times Francis Xavier. For quite some time, however, most conversions have occurred among tribal members. Tribal members in Bangladesh, poor and living on the margins of society, form roughly a 2% minority of the entire 140 million population. Of these, only 0.3% are Christian (two thirds of which are Catholic).
Msgr. Kubi was nominated auxiliary bishop of Mymensingh by the pope last Dec. 12. He was born in 1956, in the city currently called Pirgacha in the dioceses of Mymensingh. His is a member of the Holy Cross order and was ordained by the pope himself during his 1986 visit to the country. The new bishop has extensive experience in the formation and education inside his institute. At least three other bishops of Bangladesh were members of the order of the Holy Cross. (RR)
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