India News | People Pay Last Repects to Cardinal Telesphore P Toppo
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. People from all walks of life paid their last respects to Emeritus Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo, India's first tribal cardinal at St Mary's Cathedral on Tuesday after his mortal remains were brought in a convoy from Mandar near here.
Ranchi, Oct 10 (PTI) People from all walks of life paid their last respects to Emeritus Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo, India's first tribal cardinal at St Mary's Cathedral on Tuesday after his mortal remains were brought in a convoy from Mandar near here.
Cardinal Toppo, 84, died at a hospital at Mandar on October 4 after prolonged illness.
People formed a human chain to pay their last respects to the late cardinal along the about 30 km distance and showered flowers on the hearse.
The Cathedral will remain open till 8 pm on Tuesday and open on 6 am till 12 pm on Wednesday to allow people have a last glimpse of the Cardinal and pay their respects.
Cardinal Toppo will be laid to rest at the 113-year-old Cathedral here on Wednesday with full state honors. He will be buried under the statue Mother Teresa in the afternoon.
The Ranchi archdiocese said a big mass would be held at the Loyala Grounds at 1 pm.
Bishop Theodore Mashcrenas said the mass is likely to be attended by over 30 bishops, 400 priests and thousands of sisters besides the people.
Cardinal Toppo was the first tribal cardinal who voted in the election held for chosing two popes - Pope Benedict and Pope Francis.
Born at Jhargaon, a small remote village in Gumla district of Jharkhand, he had been the Archbishop of Ranchi for 35 years (1985-2018) and prior to it the Bishop of Dumka (1978-1984.
Governor C P Radhakrishnan and Chief Minister Hemant Soren condoled the cardinal's death.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)