Subject: 'austraLasia' # 331

NEW PROVINCIAL FOR GUWAHATI

ROME: 20th April -- The Rector Major, with the consent of his Council, has appointed Fr. Philip Barjo as the new Provincial of Guwahati. Fr. Barjo replaces Dominic Jala who was recently consecrated as the Archbishop of Shillong, amidst a crowd of some 30,000 people, 15 Bishops and 5 Provincials. The Guwahati Province, in North East India, is land-locked by Burma, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Tibet, China and has always been regarded as a politically sensitive area. It has, on the other hand, been an area of fertile development for the Church, particularly through the Salesian presence which is considerable. There are almost 300 confreres in the Province, at least a third of whom are in formation. Fr. Barjo has been a member of the Provincial Council and Rector of the Theologate. More recently he became the Vice Provincial and Rector of the Provincial House.