G. Prasad

infobox bishopbiog
name = G. Prasad


religion=Christian
See =Roman Catholic Church| Title =Bishop of Cuddapah
Period = 31 January 2008—"Incumbent"
consecration = 1 March 2008
Predecessor = D. M. Prakasam
Successor = "Incumbent"
post = Professor of Christian Doctrine, St. John's Regional Seminary, Kondadaba
ordination = 1 March 1989, Adoni
date of birth = 7 April 1962
place of birth = Adoni, Andhra Pradesh
date of death =
place of death=

G. Prasad (7 April1962— is the fourth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cuddapah, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India [Catholic Hierarchy, Bishop Prasad [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bgallela.html] ] .

St. Mary's Cathedral ("built in 1934 in Gothic style") in Kadapa is the seat of the Bishop of Cuddapah [Frontline, December 22, 2007, volume 24, issue 25 [http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2425/stories/20080104242511400.htm] ] .

Earlier, Prasad was a Roman Catholic clergyman who served as a Priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kurnool soon after his ordination in 1989 [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly, February 16-29, 2008, Volume 5 / 6, "pp." 3 & 12, Ernakulam, Kerala. RNI 3005/57 [http://www.sathyadeepam.org] ] .

The Bishop is well versed in Latin as well as Telugu and English.

Motto

"Ego sum Pastor bonus" [His Voice, Newsletter of the Diocese of Cuddapah (for private circulation only), Volume 28, April 2008, Issue 4] .

Much before the consecration of Bishop Prasad, he seems to have decided on the motto "'The Lord is my strength and I trust in Him [ Sathyadeepam Fortnightly, "op. cit."] Confer Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts;..... [The Holy Bible, "The New Revised Standard Version", Thomas Nelson for Theological Publications in India, Bangalore, 1999]

Early years

Franciscan Missionaries were also involved in the spread of Christianity in southern Andhra Pradesh [Martin Senftleben [http://www.drmartinus.de/bio/de/thesis1.pdf] Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh.]

Prasad was born into a family of Teachers in Adoni in Andhra Pradesh as the fourth [Kurnool Vani, Newsletter of the Kurnool Diocese, Volume XXI, Number 3, March 2008] child of their parents and was the youngest among them [His Voice, Newsletter of the Diocese of Cuddapah (for private circulation only), Volume 28, March 2008, Issue 3] . Smt. Mariamma and Sri Jojappa were his parents [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] . He went to school in his hometown, and later joined St. Pius Minor Seminary in Kurnool [Vatican Radio, The voice of the Pope and the Church in dialogue with the world, January 31, 2008 [http://www.radiovaticana.org/in2/Articolo.asp?c=183580] ] for a year's course [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] .

Divinity

For studies in divinity, he left for St. John's Regional Seminary "(a regional philosophate of the Catholic Church in Andhra Pradesh established in 1982 and managed by the Salesians of Don Bosco)", Kondadaba, Visakhapatnam and pursued philosophy ["ibid."] . Subsequently, he pursued theology [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly" op. cit."] at the St. John's Regional Seminary in Ramanthapur, Hyderabad.

Ordination & Pastorship

On 1 March 1989, Prasad was ordained as a Priest for the Catholic Diocese of Kurnool by Bishop Matthew Cheriankunnel, the second Bishop of Kurnool who served from 18 January 1988 to 16 July 1991, in Adoni [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] .

Post ordination, Prasad served as a Youth Services Director of the Catholic Diocese of Kurnool from 1989 to 1993 ["ibid."] as well as a warden for St. Mary's Junior College, Kurnool. [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly" op. cit."] from 1989 to 1990.

In 1990, he became a Parish Priest ["ibid."] in Koilakunta [Amruthavani Communications Centre, Hyderabad, Brief History of the Diocese of Kurnool [http://www.amruthavani.com/diocese_kurnool.htm] ] [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] and continued till 1995.

He also served as Spiritual Director of the Legion of Mary from 1993 to 1995 ["ibid."] .

Higher Studies & Research

In August 1995, he went to Rome and enrolled himself as a doctoral candidate to pursue the degree of Doctorate of Theology "(D. Th.)". [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly "op. cit."] [Vatican Radio, "op. cit."] in the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas ] "(a major pontifical university established in 1580)".

In the year 1999, on successful completion of studies, he was awarded the degree of D.Th. by the University [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] .

Pastoral ministry

On returning to India in 1999, he was Pastor in St. John's Church, Uppaladadiya [Amruthavani Communications Centre, Hyderabad, Brief History of the Diocese of Kurnool [http://www.amruthavani.com/diocese_kurnool.htm] ] till 2000 [Kurnool Vani, "op. cit."] .

Later, he was sent abroad to North America in 2000 to the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas and assigned a pastoral ministry ["ibid."] .

Professorship

In 2004 ["ibid."] , he was recalled to India and made Spiritual Director and Professor of Christian Doctrine in the St. John's Regional Seminary in Kondadaba, Visakhapatnam. [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly "op. cit."]

Bishopric

Diocese of Cuddapah

The Diocese of Cuddapah ("Dioecesis Cuddapahensis") was erected on 19 October 1976 after bifurcating it from the Diocese of Nellore [Catholic Hierarchy, Diocese of Cuddapah [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dcudd.html] ] . Presently, there are about 51 parishes catering to 81,580 Catholics in the diocese. ["Ibid."] .

Since the erection of the diocese in the year 1976, there have been three Bishop's who had served the diocese well.

Appointment

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Prasad as Bishop of Cuddapah on 31 January 2008 [Vatican Radio, op. cit.] . Prasad chose to be consecrated on 1 March 2008, the same date as he was ordained as a priest in 1989 [Sathyadeepam Fortnightly, "op. cit."] .

M. Joji, the Archbishop of Hyderabad principally consecrated Prasad while the Most Rev. K. Mariadas, Archbishop of Visakhapatnam and the Most Rev. D. M. Prakasam, Bishop of Nellore were the co-consecrators [Consecration invitation card of Bishop Prasad, Diocese of Cuddapah] at the St. Mary's Old Cathedral Grounds, Mariapuram, Cuddapah on 1 March 2008. [The Hindu, Sunday, March 2, 2008, Andhra Pradesh, "Prasad sworn in as Kadapa Bishop [http://www.thehindu.com/2008/03/02/stories/2008030250080200.htm] ]

Almost all the Catholic Bishop's of Andhra region took part in the consecration. Amongst the ecumenical invitees who was seated alongside the newly-consecrated Bishop was K. B. Yesuvaraprasad, the Bishop-in-Rayalaseema of the Church of South India [The Church of South India is a member of the Anglican Communion [http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/diocese.cfm?Idind=502] ] .

References