The Jesuit staff at Dhyan Ashram
Dhyan Ashram Jesuit Community is one of the largest in the province. Most of the members are our young Juniors, immediately after their first profession. A seniors community of ten Jesuits cater to the different ministries of the house. Two of them belong to the Patna Province and the rest to Calcutta Province.
Fr T Masillamani, SJ
Rector and Director of Novices. Fr Masillamani has a Masters degree in Spiritual Theology from Jnana Deepa, Pune. He has been involved in Jesuit formation and Retreat and Counseling ministries for many years.
Fr Arulappan, SJ
Minister of the Dhyan Ashram community. Fr Arulappan has a Masters degree in Electronics and Computer Science. Prior to coming to Dhyan Ashram, he the minister of St Xavier's College and the administrator of St Xavier's University, Kolkata.
Fr K C Philip, SJ
Dean of the Juniorate. Fr Philip belongs to Patna Province and is a trained journalist. He had been a freelance journalist for many years before joining The Telegraph as a staff for four years. Well-versed in English and Hindi, he had been in social communication ministry before joining the Juniorate.
Fr George Ponodath, SJ
Director of the Retreat House. Fr George was born in Kerala, specialized in communication by doing a Masters in Film and Television at London University, and spent almost a quarter of a century working at EMRC, Kolkata. Now he is actively involved in retreat ministry and has authored a book, “Cave of Plenty”.
Fr Pierre Jacob, SJ
Spiritual Father of the Juniors. Fr Pierre is from Belgium, and has been living in India for the last 45 years as a Calcutta Jesuit. He has been involved in Jesuit formation from the Novitiate till the tertianship. He is also a much sought after retreat and spiritual director.
Fr Joseph Kootinal, SJ
Teacher and counselor of the Juniors. Fr Joe belongs to Patna Province and has taught English literature in various juniorates for 22 years. He was on the staff of Atmadarshan, Patna, for 10 years, where he was fully engaged in counselling. He is well known in India and abroad as a master in Inner Child Workshops.
Fr Jerome Francis, SJ
Teacher in the Novitiate and Juniorate and retreat director. Fr Jerome has come back to Dhyan Ashram after serving the province in many capacities as Provincial, Socius, Principal of St Xavier's School, etc. Earlier he was a rector and novice director at Dhyan Ashram.
Fr Thamacin A, SJ
Teacher in the Novitiate and Juniorate and retreat director. Fr Thamacin has a doctorate in Botany, and was the Principal of St Xavier's Collegiate School, Kolkata. Prior to that he was the director of the Pre-Novitiate and was actively involved in retreat ministry.
Fr Inigo Xavier, SJ
Socius to the Novice Master and treasurer of Dhyan Ashram. Prior to coming to Dhyan Ashram, Fr Xavier was involved in education and pastoral ministry among the Santals in different parts of West Bengal.
Sch Roton Boidya, SJ
Teacher and minister in the Juniorate. Sch. Roton completed his graduation in Bengali literature from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and did his Masters in Philosophy from Loyola-Chennai. Sch. Roton is passionate about music and extracurricular activities and interested in socio-political realities.