Bethany Nun dies in road accident

July 31, 2012: A Catholic nun was killed and two others were wounded on Monday in a road accident in Bangalore. The three nuns belonging to the Congregation of Bethany Sisters were returning home from St John’s Medical College in an auto rickshaw when the accident occurred.

While Sr. Loyola Serrao, 78, died after reaching hospital, Sisters Celsa and Luvilla suffered serious injuries. Sister Serrao had accompanied the two ailing nuns to St. John’s Medical College for medical checkup. Sr. Celsa has cancer while Sr. Luvilla suffers from kidney ailment.

According to Sister Molly, officer in charge of the Bethany Generalate in Mangalore, the auto rickshaw turned turtle after hitting the road divider while giving way to a two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction.

Some passersby took all three nuns to a nearby military commando hospital for initial medical aid and later shifted them to St John’s. Sister Serrao was declared brought dead, while Sister Luvilla, who suffered serious head injuries, was put on ventilator.
Sr. Celsa suffered shoulder injuries.

Sr Serrao was born in Kinnigoly, some 25 km from Mangalore. She studied theology, pastoral care and spiritual renewal in Rome and was the pioneer of Bethany missions in North Karnataka, Nagaland and Germany.

She had worked in Mangalore, Bangalore, Dharwad, Gadag, Mysore in Karnataka, Kohima in the northeastern India, Germany and Rome as a nurse and a teacher.

Two of her brothers became priests while two sisters were in Bethany congregation.