Father Sleeva Madanu becomes a U.S. citizen

Father Sleeva Raju Madanu, pastor of St. George’s in Post Falls.

By Margaret Scott

for the ICR

On Sunday, Dec. 8, the community of St. George’s Catholic Parish in Post Falls gathered to celebrate their community’s newest citizen, their pastor, Father Sleeva Raju Madanu. After living in the United States for 10 years, Father Sleeva became a citizen on Sept. 19.

More than 150 people gathered at the Post Falls VFW Hall to celebrate Father Sleeva and enjoy a fundraiser soup luncheon. Over 20 soups were donated for the event, and parishioners voted on their top four choices. Funds from the event’s silent auction, bake sale, wine collection raffle and quilt raffle raised more than $20,000 for the new parish center, which is currently under construction.

Father Sleeva said that the best part of the celebration was having the parishioners together in fellowship. “With the church property under construction, many activities were put on hold or transferred to our neighboring churches. This has left the community missing out on fellowship opportunities,” he said. For Father Sleeva, there was no better way to celebrate than to have all his flock together.

 Originally from Kethepally, India, Father Sleeva first moved to the United States in June 2011. The Bishop of his Diocese in Nalgonda, India visited the Diocese of Superior, Wis. and asked Father Sleeva to take an assignment there. Though Father Sleeva wasn’t excited about moving to Superior, he agreed. The language barrier proved difficult for Father Sleeva. Though his seminary studies had been conducted in English, he hadn’t used the language regularly in India. His accent was also a challenge, making it difficult for people to understand him.

Despite the difficulties, Father Sleeva developed an appreciation for Wisconsin, including its winters. “It was exciting when I saw the first snow falling,” he said. He took up ice fishing.

“When I came, I never thought I would become a citizen,” he said, “but I started thinking I would want to work long-term in Superior.” After a year and a half, Father Sleeva applied for a green card which was issued in August 2013.

Bishop Peter Christensen was the Bishop of the Diocese of Superior at the time, and Father Sleeva came to greatly appreciate his leadership. “He is so kind,” Father Sleeva said.

 In 2016, Father Sleeva returned to the Diocese of Naglonda, but he and Bishop Peter, who was transferred to the Diocese of Boise in December 2014, continued to keep in touch. In January 2017 and again in 2018, Father Sleeva visited the Diocese of Boise at Bishop Peter’s invitation. He assisted Father Jerry Funke for six weeks at the St. John’s Cathedral during one of his visits.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Father Sleeva said of his first impression of Idaho. “I never saw these big mountains before.”

Father Sleeva moved back to the United States in May 2019. Over the course of two years, he served in varying capacities at St. Jerome’s Catholic Church in Jerome, Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Grangeville and St. Joseph Catholic Church in Sandpoint.

In 2020, Father Sleeva’s brother, Father Arogyam Madanu, who is also a priest, was granted permission to work in the Diocese of Boise. With Father Timothy Ritchey’s retirement, Father Sleeva requested to be assigned to St. George’s along with Father Arogyam, who is the Parochial Vicar of St. Stanislaus and St. Joseph in Rathdrum and Spirit Lake. Knowing the difficulties of being a priest in a new country, Father Sleeva wanted to have his brother nearby.

As his green card expiration date approached, he considered whether to renew it or apply for U.S. citizenship. As India does not allow dual citizenship, he had to evaluate the effect of losing his Indian citizenship. Father said it was an easy choice to become an American citizen. Bishop Peter agreed, and Father Sleeva applied for citizenship in June 2024.

After the application documents were submitted, the United States embassy scheduled Father Sleeva’s citizenship interview and exam for Sept. 18. During the interview, he was required to correctly answer at least 6 of 10 randomly chosen questions out of a list of 100. “I answered six questions correctly, so there was no need for him to ask the seventh one,” Father Sleeva said. The following day, Father Sleeva took the oath of citizenship. “It was a happy moment,” he said.

Father Sleeva was raised in a Catholic family that goes back at least five generations. In his village of around 30,000, there were 600 Catholic families in a predominantly Hindu society. The homes of the Catholic families surrounded the church. He remembers walking to daily Mass at 6:30 a.m. every morning and returning to the church at 5:30 p.m. to pray the rosary every evening, followed by another rosary in his family home led by his grandfather.

“Every day, you could hear the church bells ring at 6 a.m., 12 p.m., and 6 p.m. for the Angelus,” Father Sleeva said.

Father Sleeva grew up seeing priests and nuns in his everyday life. He attended a school run by Sisters who lived on the campus and would visit the families’ homes in the evenings. The church pastor was an Italian missionary who served the community for 27 years. He encouraged all the children to go to seminary. Father Sleeva attended the Apostolic Seminary at thirteen, from 8th through 12th grades.

Father Sleeva never considered a vocation other than the priesthood. He was ordained at his home parish on May 10, 1995.

His first assignment was as Associate Pastor at his home parish. He then served as the pastor at various parishes within the Diocese of Nalgonda. He was also the director of a boarding home for six years, which included taking care of the 100-acre property where he grew rice and vegetables to feed the students. Father enjoyed farming and has a special place in his heart for agriculture.

What Father enjoys most about being a priest is his love for the Holy Eucharist. “Without it, we have no religion or any meaning to life,” he said.

While the construction of St. George’s parish center has been challenging, Father Sleeva doesn’t worry. “As we all know, there are our plans, and then there are God’s plans,” he said. Father Sleeva trusts in the providence of God.