Pope Francis condoles the death of Indian Cardinal Simon Pimenta
Vatican City, 20 July 2013: ‘Having learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal
Simon Ignatius Pimenta, Archbishop Emeritus of Bombay, I offer heartfelt condolences
to you and to all the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese’, wrote
Pope Francis on Saturday in his condolence message sent to Cardinal Oswald Gracias,
Archbishop of Bombay. Cardinal Simon Ignatius Pimenta, who led the Indian Church
during one of its critical periods, died in Bombay on Friday after a brief illness.
He was 93.
‘Recalling with gratitude, Pope Francis said, Cardinal Pimenta’s
long years of devoted service to the Catholic community there and his many years of
faithful assistance to the Successor of Peter as a member of the College of Cardinals.
I join you in praying that God our merciful Father will grant him the reward of his
labours and welcome his noble soul into the joy and peace of the heavenly Kingdom’.
Pope Francis imparted his Apostolic blessing to Cardinal Pimenta’s relatives and
all assembled for the Solemn Requiem Mass for the Cardinal.
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 late cardinal headed the Indian Church as the president
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in 1987 when Pope John Paul II
allowed the country’s three ritual Churches to set up their own separate espiscopal
conferences amid fears of tension, rivalries and acrimony. The cardinal was the archbishop
of Bombay, the largest Catholic diocese in India, from 1978 to 1997.
Later
when he was made the cardinal observers said the multi-faceted prelate earned the
honor because of his ability to think critically and to be open to changes. The cardinal
proved his leadership abilities in the Church by keeping his equilibrium when several
contentious social and religious issues came to a head.
The Indian bishops
endorsed their faith in his ability to guide the Church by electing him the CBCI president
three times. During his six-year presidency, the Church weathered one of the severest
tests of its unity — the inter-rite issue and the claim of the Oriental Churches to
a separate identity.
After failure to achieve consensus on the matter at two
successive CBCI meetings, the archbishop minced no words when he asked bishops “to
rise above ourselves, our personal likes and dislikes, our differences, and chart
a new and prosperous path for the Church in India.” The bishops at a plenary of the
conference unanimously approved the new statutes of the CBCI, ending speculation about
sharpening divisions among the rites.
Bombay´s second cardinal, Archbishop
Pimenta was born at Marol in Bombay on March 1, 1920. He did his primary school studies
in Marathi and passed the matriculation exam at St. Xavier´s High School in 1936.
He graduated from St. Xavier´s College with a degree in arts. As a youth, Cardinal
Pimenta was a voracious reader and a music and sports enthusiast. He played the violin
and was skilled in cricket and hockey – which accounted for his frequent allusions
in speeches to cricket and harmony.
After ecclesiastical studies at the diocesan
seminary, he was ordained by the late Cardinal Valerian Gracias in 1949. Two years
later, he joined the Urban University, Rome where he obtained a doctorate in canon
law.
On his return to India, the young priest was appointed secretary at the
archbishop´s house, and held posts of vice chancellor and defender of the bond in
the matrimonial tribunal of the archdiocese. In 1960 he was appointed visiting professor
of liturgy at St. Pius X College, the diocesan seminary, where he lectured for five
years.
In 1967, he took charge as rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Name
and was appointed episcopal vicar for the liturgy and for the pastoral formation of
junior clergy. After a short rectorship at the diocesan seminary in 1971, he was nominated
titular bishop of Bocconia and auxiliary to Cardinal Gracias. In 1977, he was named
coadjutor archbishop of Bombay. On Cardinal Gracias´ death in 1978, he became archbishop.
He
was a member of the Vatican Congregation for Religious and Secular Institutes, Secretariat
for Promotion of Christian Unity and the Pontifical Commission for the Revision of
Canon Law. The late cardinal´s balanced approach on controversial issues had been
frequently quoted in religious and secular newspapers.
At a civic reception
to the Indian bishops in 1988, Kerala Governor Ram Dular Sinha praised Christians
for their contribution to the country´s development. Archbishop Pimenta, responded,
asking the authorities to accept, not suspect, the Christian community. Governor
Sinha had accused Christian missioners of fomenting trouble in Chhotanagpur region
in eastern India when she was the federal home minister.
Cardinal Pimenta was
quite vocal in 1992 when India went through sectarian violence that threatened the
country’s secular credentials and existence as a single nation. The worst affected
was Mumbai, India’s commercial capital.
He told an interreligious gathering
in Mumbai that India had “deep psychic wounds” that needed healing. He was the member
of the “Sarva Dharma Maitri Pratishtan” (trust for all faiths friendship) that organizes
peace marches and interfaith meetings in Mumbai.
“More than physical, it is
psychological and spiritual matters where spiritual leaders can singly and jointly
help,” Cardinal Pimenta used to say at inter-religious meetings. He maintained that
animosity between Hindus and Muslims, two major religions in India, needed political
and spiritual solutions and urged the delinking politics from religion. He warned
against destroying the country´s secular character through “mutual misuse of religion
and politics to arouse passions.”
He also warned that a political party would
become sectarian and exclusive if it aligned closely to a particular religion. He
had also urged Hindus and Muslims to avoid irritants to ease interreligious tensions
and urged both groups to reassess religious practices that do not affect the faith
but irritate others. He said riots can easily be triggered by loud speakers, bells,
drums and religious processions. “Such practices are not desirable and need to be
looked into,” he used to say. In his own diocese, the cardinal called for a diocesan
synod and was very active in pastoral and charitable activities especially in managing
12 hospitals and 44 dispensaries, and has dedicated much to Catholic education. Source:
VR Sedoc & Mattersindia