- 15 October, 2026
KALAHANDI, October 15, 2026: The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) took around 20 minor seminarians from a seminary in Odisha’s Kalahandi district into its care on October 14 after the institution failed to produce documents concerning their admission and parental consent, according to Bishop Aplinar Senapati of Rayagada.
Speaking to Catholic Connect, Bishop Senapati said the CWC had asked the seminary authorities to submit the required documents but the priest in charge was unable to provide them.
The bishop attributed the lapse to the priest not having copies of the documents relating to the Rayagada Diocesan Educational Trust, under which diocesan institutions operate.
“They could not provide the documents and they had no documents at all,” the bishop said, stressing that institutions should maintain basic records.
According to the bishop, the seminarians were taken to a child welfare centre, where officials asked their parents to come and take them home. The seminary authorities are expected to complete the institution’s registration and submit the necessary documents before reopening it, he said.
The CWC reportedly intervened after the seminary failed to produce letters from the parents and/or the local panchayat confirming that the boys were studying there with their parents’ knowledge and consent and of their own free will.
The seminary, located within the territory of the Diocese of Rayagada, is managed by the Sacred Heart Fathers, who recently arrived in Odisha from southern India.
Bishop Senapati said he did not consider the intervention a serious act of mistreatment against the Church, while acknowledging the need for proper documentation. He also said he might visit the seminarians on October 16.
The exact ages of the seminarians, the specific concerns raised by the CWC and whether any formal allegations of exploitation have been made against the institution were not immediately clear.
By Catholic Connect Reporter
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