Jesuit Fr Jacob Srampickal, a prophetic voice for Catholic communications in India,
has died at the age of 62. A former head of the communications department at the
Pontifical Gregorian University, Fr Jacob had recently been appointed by the Indian
bishops’ conference as head of their National Institute for Social Communications,
Research and Training, an institute he helped to found in Uttar Pradesh state. After
studies in Development Communication in the northern English city of Leeds, Fr Jacob
went on to serve as head of both the Indian and the Asian office of Signis, the international
association for Catholic communications. A prolific author and tireless teacher in
seminaries across India, Fr Jacob was renowned for his visionary ideas that included
online media training for students in developing countries and the New Delhi Video
Festival for NGOs. During his time in Rome, he also worked closely with Vatican
Radio’s Indian programme – among those who knew him well is Fr William Nellikkal of
the Radio’s Malayalam section…
Listen to Philippa Hitchen's interview with
Fr William..