Father Abraham Orapankal’s ministry spans the globe

Father Abraham Orapankal Celebrating 40 years

The first stirrings towards a life as a priest were planted in a youthful Abraham Orapankal as he watched his pastor in the southernmost state of Kerala, India.

“The way he was leading the parish, the pastoral care given to the people of the parish – it gave me a kind of seed of interest,” he said. The Orapankal family belong to the Eastern Catholic community with roots tracing back to the missionary activity of St. Thomas the Apostle, who traveled to India after Christ’s Ascension.

Father Orapankal entered the seminary in Assam, earned a bachelor’s degree from Christ King College, Shillong, and completed his theological studies at the Papal Seminary in Pune. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 17, 1983, for the missionary Diocese of Kohima in Nagaland. “Working as a missionary was the most fulfilling experience, struggling with the people and becoming one with the people in the villages,” he said.

Father Orapankal’s bishop sent him to New York to study at Fordham University so that he would be qualified to serve as resident professor of theology at the Orens Theological College in Shillong.

Little did he know the assignment would change the direction of his ministry. His trip to the U.S. was originally intended as “an opportunity to get the degree and return at the earliest possible,” he recalled, but a medical diagnosis of a very rare, incurable lung condition prompted doctors to recommend he remain in America where indoor temperatures were better regulated.

Father Orapankal earned a doctorate in leadership from Fordham and a certification in spiritual direction from the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Direction, Bethesda, Md. Disregarding medical advice, the priest returned to India to teach theology and serving as spiritual director for the seminarians for a few years, but his worsening health attracted the attention of his local bishop, who decided the priest should return to the United States.

Father Orapankal worked with RENEW International for six years, traveling the country and training others to promote Christian communities and faith-sharing groups, before being incardinated to the Diocese of Metuchen in 2010.

He served as parochial vicar in St. Bartholomew Parish, East Brunswick, from 2010 to 2012, and pastor of St. John Neumann Parish, Califon, from 2012 until he was appointed to his current assignment as pastor of St. Matthias Parish, Somerset, in 2018.

While at St. Matthias, he has worked to set up complete transparency in parish financial matters, and created more than two dozen small groups of parishioners who meet regularly to pray and share faith with one another. “That made the parish come alive,” he said. “That was an amazing thing. When the people gather to share the Word of God there is so much mutual support and fellowship.”

The priest said he strives to help people experience the power of God through the sacraments, and to show that “everyone is welcome here.” His hope is never to put obstacles in the way of those who are coming to the Church for help.

“They will come back if we have a welcoming attitude,” he said.

He uses the weekly parish bulletins as a tool for evangelization, sharing jokes to make people smile and draw them into reading inspirational stories related to the Gospel.

Father Orapankal advised prospective priests should focus only on Jesus, not whether they could be labeled a conservative or progressive.

“Focus on the word of God, not any other thinking-movement. We need to be Jesus-based, not any extreme. It is so easy to fall into ideologies. … That is what is polarizing the people.”

By Teresa Murphy, Correspondent