Shillong Oct 14: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Monday informed that the process to release the body of Archbishop, Dominic Jala may take three to four days.

The chief minister shared this information with family members of the Archbishop and well wishers when he visited the ancestral home of the Archbishop at Mawlai Phudmuri on Monday evening.

Sharing his grief with the family members, Sangma informed that on the day he came to know about the sad news, he spoke to Panda who also knew about the incident.

Archbishop Jala passed away following a car accident at Colusa County, Oakland, California in USA around 2.20 pm on Thursday (Friday morning in India).

Archbishop Jala along with Fr Mathew Vellankal from Kerela who worked at St Bonaventure in United States, died on the spot, and another priest, Fr Joseph Parekkatt, was injured.

The accident took place when they were on the way to Colusa County after travelling to Clearlake.

The Archbishop had left Shillong for Rome on September 17 for the Ad Limina (meeting of Bishops/Archbishops from different Dioceses with the Pope once in five years). The Archbishop then went to USA for a meeting of the International Commission for English Liturgy (ICEL) and to meet some of his priest friends.

The chief minister said that the Indian Consul General in San Francisco has assured of all help that required.

“However the process (to release the body) may take two to three days time, sometimes four days maximum,” Sangma said.

He however informed that all logistics support including transportation of the mortal remains by Air India has been organized.

“Our entire Meghalaya House team in Delhi is ready and on standby to ensure that the mortal remains are brought back to Shillong so that we can all pay our last respects,” he said.

He also recalled his association with Archbishop Jala. “I knew Archbishop Jala for a very long time. My father late PA Sangma had told me that Archbishop Jala was the choir leader during my mother and father’s marriage in Tura, and he was closely associated with our family.”

The Chief Minister described the demise of the Archbishop a loss of not only the Catholic Church but the state as a whole.