Stephen Rotluanga is a Mizo

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

, and

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

who is serving as the second and current

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Aizawl The Roman Catholic Diocese of Aizawl () is a diocese located in the city of Aizawl in the ecclesiastical province of Shillong in India. History * 17 January 1952: Established as Apostolic Prefecture of Haflong from the Metropolitan Archdioce ...

. He was consecrated in 2002, becoming the first ever Mizo to be ordained a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Early life and education

Born on 8 June 1952 at Sakawrtuichhun,

Aizawl Aizawl (, American English, US: , British English, UK: ; Mizo language, Mizo: ), formerly known as Aijal, is the capital city and the most populous city of Mizoram, India. It is also the third largest city in northeast India. It is situated ato ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

, he is the fourth child of Luke Robula and Lucy Darhmingliani and has 7 siblings. He is a part of the Khiangte clan. He finished his BA from

St. Joseph's College, Bangalore St. Joseph's University is a private aided, Jesuit, higher educational institution run by the Karnataka Province of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. It is one of the oldest educational institution in the state of Ka ...

and his B.Phil and

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a two- to five-year undergraduate degree or graduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically (but not exclusively) pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, de ...

from Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology,

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

. During the course of his clerical studies, he finished academic training on Mass Media and Communication from

St. Xavier's College, Mumbai St. Xavier's College is a private, Catholic Church, Catholic, institution of higher education run by the Bombay Province of the Society of Jesus in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It was founded by the Jesuits on 2 January 1869. The college is ...

and

Social Communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmit ...

from NITIKA,

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, with distinction grades.

Stephen also completed courses in Pastoral Psychology Counselling and Youth, Liturgical and Prayer Experience Course from the NBCLC,

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

He holds a distinction grade in

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creativity, creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function ...

specialization from the

Ontario College of Art and Design Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

Toronto, Canada Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and has undergone professional artistic training in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence was a centre of medieval European t ...

. He also holds the degrees of

Bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and never has been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

and

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. Apart from his native Mizo, he speaks fluent English and has an adequate working knowledge of

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. He has good command of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Priesthood

He was ordained as a priest in the

Congregation of Holy Cross The Congregation of Holy Cross (), abbreviated CSC, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in 1837 by Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France. Moreau also founded the Marianites of Holy Cross for women, n ...

on 3 December 1981 by the then Bishop of Silchar, Most. Rev. Denzil Reginald D'Souza who was also incharge of the

region at Christ the King Cathedral, Kulikawn,

. He was first officially assigned the post of Assistant Parish Priest at

Champhai Champhai is the third largest town in Mizoram, northeast India and is one of the oldest settlements founded by the Mizo people that initially served as a capital for the Hmar dynasty. Located near the India–Myanmar border, it facilitates c ...

from 1982 to 1985. He was elevated to

Parish Priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in 1985 after the incumbent was transferred. He served as

till 1994 and also served as the Youth Director of the Mizoram Catholic Thalai Pawl (Mizo Catholic Youth Association) from 1985 to 1992. Father Stephen was then known as "The Singing Priest" having the most melodious voice among all the priest of the region. Rotluanga served as the Head of the Holy Cross Students Home in

from 1994 to 1995 and then served as Rector for the Holy Cross Seminarians in

Agartala Agartala (, , ) is the capital and the List of cities and towns in Tripura, largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tripura, situated on the banks of Haora River, Haora/Saidra River, about east of the border ...

from 2000 to 2001. He also simultaneously served as the Head of the Department of Art and Communication in Holy Cross School in

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

Episcopate

On 2 October 2001, he was appointed Bishop of Aizawl by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

and ordained on 2 February 2002 in AR Lammual by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Charles Asa Schleck Charles Asa Schleck, CSC (July 5, 1925 – July 12, 2011) was a Catholic prelate, who served as undersecretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies (from 1995 to 2001). Biogr ...

, setting record for the most number of people attending mass in

diocese history. He succeeded Most. Rev. Denzil Reginald D'Souza, who had ordained him in 1981. He is the first ever person from the

Zo people The Zo people is a term to denote the ethnolinguistically related speakers of the Kuki-Chin languages who primarily inhabit northeastern India, western Myanmar, and southeastern Bangladesh. The dispersal across international borders r ...

community to be ordained a

. As

, he also has episcopal jurisdiction over the Barak Valley in

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. He also currently serves as chairman of the North East Regional Laity Commission.

Art

Rotluanga is a

, sketcher,

and

with specializations in

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

Art. He has held various national and international art exhibitions but has never sold a single artwork. He still maintains a

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

in the official Bishop House in

and most of his paintings are still with him. He said that

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

and

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

are his greatest influences. He is famous for his nude paintings, what he calls as "human figures created by God."

Early life and education

Priesthood

Episcopate

Art

See also