Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma along with other members of the State Assembly, MLAs and MDCs received the mortal remains of Archbishop Dominic Jala at the Guwahati Airport on Sunday.
Family members of the Archbishop and his loved ones also thronged the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport, Borjhar to pay tribute to the Archbishop of the Shillong Archdiocese, Dominic Jala.
Also read: Mortal remains Archbishop Dominic Jala to arrive Shillong on Sunday
Sharing a few images of the arrival of the mortal remains of Archbishop Jala at Guwahati Airport on Sunday on his twitter handle, chief minister Sangma said, “Received the mortal remains of His Grace Archbishop Dominic Jala at Guwahati Airport alongside his family members and loved ones.”
To express about the popularity of Archibishop Jala, the CM added, “It’s overwhelming to see the love and support given by everyone present which shows the impact he has made in everyone’s lives.”
Also read: Bishops’ Council mourns Archbishop Dominic Jala’s demise
After arrival at the Guwahati Airport from USA, the mortal remains were taken to St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral, Guwahati.
Requiem Mass was conducted at the cathedral before leaving for Shillong.
Archbishop of Guwahati, John Moolachira, who is president of Northeast India Regional Bishops Council, led the requiem at the Provincial House, Guwahati.
The requiem was attended by a large number of gathering including Catholic Bishops of the Northeast, church leaders, members of the Archdiocese of Shillong and other faithfuls.
Archbishop Moolachira, while speaking on the occasion termed Archbishop Dominic Jala as a “simple, friendly, very sincere and hardworking person”.
Received the mortal remains of His Grace Archbishop Dominic Jala at Guwahati Airport alongside his family members and loved ones. It's overwhelming to see the love and support given by everyone present which shows the impact he has made in everyone's lives. pic.twitter.com/UX0vivVzut
— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) October 20, 2019
On the way to Shillong, the mortal remains of Archbishop Jala were also taken to the Byrnihat Parish, Nongpoh Parish and Mawlai Parish.
According to information, the funeral will be held at the Cathedral of Mary Help of Christians, Laitumkhrah, Shillong at 1 pm.
It may be mentioned that Archbishop Jala was earlier the Provincial of Don Bosco, Guwahati.
The mortal remains of the Archbishop will be kept in his parental home at Mawlai Phudmuri for the night.
The mortal remains will be kept in the Cathedral Church for faithfuls to pay their homage from October 21 till the funeral on October 23.
Archbishop Jala will be buried in a grave close to the Cathedral not inside it.
It was the wish of Jala that he should be buried in a grave inside the Cathedral.
The Archbishop died in a car accident along with Fr Mathew Vellankal at Colusa County, Oakland in California, USA on October 10 at around 2.20pm (October 11 morning in India).
A Toyota Prius where Fr Mathew, Archbishop Jala and Fr Joseph Parekkatt were travelling in was hit by a tractor-trailer truck on the California Route 20 near Wilbur Springs.
Fr Joseph, who looks after St. Anne Parish in Walnut Creek, was injured in the mishap.