Cardinal Pimenta of Mumbai dies

(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Simon Pimenta, archbishop emeritus of Mumbai, passed away Friday night. He was 93.

A spokesperson of the Catholic church said the funeral details would be announced within a few days. Members of the Catholic community will pay their respects Saturday morning at the Clergy Home at Bandra.

The end came around 9pm at Clergy Home where the cardinal was recuperating from age-related ailments. Auxiliary bishop Fr Dominic Savio Fernandes said the cardinal was well all day.

"He had eaten his dinner and was resting when one of the nurses in the home found him slumped in his chair. A doctor was quickly summoned but the end had come by then," he said.

Senior priests from the Archbishop's House in Colaba had come to visit another clergyman who had suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Holy Family Hospital in Bandra. It was then that they heard of Cardinal Pimenta's death and rushed to Clergy Home.

Cardinal Pimenta was born on March 1, 1920, in Marol village, Andheri, to Joseph Anthony and Rosy Pimenta. He was an alumnus of St John the Evangelist School and St Xavier's College. He was ordained priest on December 21, 1949. He retired as Cardinal at the age of 75 to make way for Ivan Dias.

"He was a nice, holy person who will be remembered for his giving, generous ways. He served as Cardinal from 1988 through 1987. He was an important leader not just in Mumbai but indeed India given that he was elected president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) three times and visited Rome to attend various Synod meetings," said Fr Savio.

The Mobai Gaothan Panchayat mourned the death of the man who made the East Indian community proud.