Campaign Offers Aid to 100,000 Victims in India

Father Tomi Thomas IMS briefly pushed back from his desk, his exuberance evident as a smile widened.

With simple yet heartfelt words, Father Thomas simply said, “Thank you the people of the Diocese of Baton Rouge!”
He had reason to smile, as a recent second collection in the diocese raised $81,133.40 to help support those struggling in Father Thomas’ native India during a recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

“Some of my fellow priests say it’s a miracle,” said Father Thomas, pastor at St. Jules Church in Belle Rose and St. Elizabeth Church in Paincourtville. 

Father Thomas said the funds were able to provide assistance to about 100,000 people, which included food, medicine and medical kits.

The food consisted of rice, lentils and wheat flour, enough to feed a family of five for one week.

The medicine was used to treat cold, coughing and wheezing.

Father Thomas noted money goes a long way in India. In fact, $45 will provide food for a week, medicine and a medical kit to a family.

“That cannot happen here in the United States.”

He said his brother Indian Missionary Society priests are scattered in villages throughout India, so money was able to be distributed to seven different organizations, allowing them to reach more people. Some of his brother priests were also able to utilize some of their own small emergency funds in their church parishes.

“(The money raised in Baton Rouge) was a big help for us to do that work,” Father Thomas said. “I told my priests we would be receiving some money but did not know how much. Anything we were getting at that point in time (during the height of a surge in the delta variant that was killing many people daily) was a blessing.

“They work mostly in villages and cannot raise their own income.”

Conditions are improving in India with people returning to work, but Father Thomas said coronavirus claimed the lives of five of his fellow IMS priests. Father Joel Kandulna, who served as parochial vicar at five churches in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, mostly in the River Parishes, spent six weeks in an ICU unit in India struggling with COVID-19.

He has since been released but not fully recovered and is still experiencing difficulty breathing, Father Thomas said. 

Approximately one-third of the 1.3 billion residents of India have been vaccinated, Father Thomas said. He said the vaccine is not always readily available but added hesitancy on the part of residents has contributed to the low vaccination rates.

“Many (of the unvaccinated) are poor, illiterate people,” Father Thomas said, adding the vaccination is a form of an injection which has some folks reason to pause “Here (the reluctance of some to get vaccinated) is because of political and other reasons.”

Father Thomas thanked Bishop Michael G. Duca for his support in approving the second collection. He was also impressed with the interest and determination people showed in making the fundraising campaign a success.

He said that even though a combined 10 people in his two parishes have recently succumbed to the delta variant, parishioners were generous in their giving.

“People are going through hard times and in spite of that they are saying we want to help people out that are more in need,” he said. “That was very interesting because human nature is not usually like that. Usually when we have a problem, we concentrate on that problem rather than thinking of someone else’s problem.

“That was powerful to see.”

Father Thomas said he was happy and learned a lesson that to help others people need to be of one mind.

“I appreciate the (church) parishes, because much of the money came through individuals via second collections,” Father Thomas said. “It touched me and I was overwhelmed.”