The 54-year-of archbishop-elect is currently the provincial councillor and parish priest of the Sacred Heart of the First Peoples of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Edmonton.
Father Jesu has served in Canada since 2007, with a significant focus on Indigenous communities.
He is known for his advocacy for Indigenous people during the 2022 Papal visit to Canada.
He was born on May 17, 1971, at Pushpavanam under Sivagangai diocese in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
The archbishop-elect studied philosophy at the Pontifical Athenaeum Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bengaluru and theology at the Khrist Premalaya Institute of Theology at Ashta, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
He was ordained a priest for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate on July 27, 2000, after making his final profession in the same year.
Bishop-elect Jesu has a Master’s in Pastoral Counselling from Saint Paul University in Ottawa, Canada.
After ordination he served as the parish priest of Balaghat in Madhya Pradesh for two years until 2002. He then took over as the pastor of Surala Kappa, a village in Odisha, eastern India. After three years there, he was appointed parish priest of Kombadimadurai in Tamil Nadu.
After serving in India, he was invited to serve the First Nations communities in Canada in 2007, completing a year of orientation focusing on Indigenous ministry.
He was appointed pastor of First Nations communities in northern Saskatchewan before moving to Edmonton, Alberta. He served as the pastor of the Sacred Heart Church of the First Peoples in Edmonton, where he worked with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous parishioners.
During the 2022 papal visit to Canada, Father Jesu represented the Sacred Heart Church and shared the stories of those affected by residential schools. He was chosen to represent the parish in Rome to meet with Pope Francis to discuss healing and reconciliation.
In 2009, he was appointed parish priest of St. Gertrude in Pelican Narrows and Our Lady of Seven Sorrows in Sandy Bay, a post he held for six years. He was the priest of Sacred Heart of the First Peoples in Edmonton since 2019. He was appointed the provincial counsellor in 2019.
In July 2025, he celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood. As of November 2025, he began a new chapter serving several communities in Alberta.
The archdiocese of Keewatin-Le Pas was vacant since December 30, 2024, when Pope Francis transferred Archbishop Murray Chatlain to Winnipeg.
The archdiocese covers 430,000 sq km in northern Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a small corner of North-West Ontario. The Métis, First Nations of Cree, OjiCree, Dene and non-natives make up the archdiocese’s mixed culture. The territory west of James Bay was called “Keewatin” meaning “North Wind Blowing.”
The archdiocese has 47,841 Catholics in a population of 109,558. Its 50 parishes are served by 15 priests, 1 deacon, and 11 religious (brothers and sisters). Some missions are fly-in only, and the archdiocese faces challenges related to geography, climate, and social issues.