A festive mood prevailed on the premises of the Madre de Deus Church at Vettucaud as thousands of believers gathered in front of the specially erected pavilion to witness the consecration of Christudas Rajappan as Auxiliary Bishop of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram.
Among the attendees were dignitaries, including Shashi Tharoor, MP; Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar; Jameela Prakasam, MLA; CPI(M) district unit secretary Kadakampally Surendran; senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes; and former Speaker M. Vijayakumar.
Family witnesses function
The family members of Fr. Christudas, including his father Rajappan and mother Angeline, were in attendance.
While a massive crowd thronged the area well before the scheduled time of 4 p.m., the procession which signalled the start of the ceremony got under way nearly an hour later. Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal George Alencherry, Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop Soosa Pakiam M. and Auxiliary Bishop-elect Fr. Christudas were part of the procession. The procession was accompanied by nearly 20 Metropolitans and over 100 clergy members, among others.
As the procession made its way towards the pavilion, they were greeted by a welcome song, sung by nearly 250 singers. Following the opening address of Archbishop Soosa Pakiam, the rituals got under way with the Vicar General Eugene H. Pereira making the customary request to ordain Fr. Christudas.
