Kozhikode, India, 8 January 2014: An Italian Jesuit priest, who became a legend in
Kerala’s Malabar region by working among low caste groups for more than half a century,
died on Monday night. Linus Maria Zucol, a naturalized Indian, was 97 when breathing
problem ended a long missionary inning at a private hospital in Kozhikode, the region’s
main town. His funeral is scheduled at 4 pm on Wednesday at Our Lady of Perpetual
Help at Mariyapuram near Pariyaram in Kannur district, where the Jesuit was the parish
priest for 39 years. Fr Zucol, who is popularly known as “Zucolachan” (Fr Zucol),
had collapsed in church during prayers in December, and had been in hospital since
then. He was born in 1916 at Sarnico in northern Italy’s Alps region. He joined
the seminary at 12 and was ordained a priest in 1940. Three years later he joined
the Jesuits. He worked in Jesuit missions in Africa and Japan before coming to India
in 1948. The same year he was sent to Chundel in Wayanad. Six years later, he came
to Madai, which was part of the Chirackal Mission the Jesuits launched in 1937. In
1963, he was posted at Pattuvam in Kannur district where he encouraged a German nun
to start a religious congregation to cater to the poor families of Malabar. The Deena
Sevana Sabha (DSS, society to serve the downtrodden) was founded in 1968. In 1972,
he came to Pariyaram, some 20 km east of Kannur town, and started the Mariyapuram
parish, where he stayed for the next 39 years. In 1980 he took Indian citizenship. During
his work in Kerala, Fr Zucol was best known for building houses for the homeless.
Jesuit sources say the priest had built nearly 10,000 houses for those in abject poverty.
He also helped people find livelihoods by providing them with sewing machines, cattle,
auto rickshaws and others. He also built more than 30 church buildings, most of
them in Kannur district. The Jesuit priest rarely visited Italy since arriving in
Kerala. Fr Zucol was the spiritual director of Sister Maria Celine of the Ursulines
of Mary Immaculate, who in 2008 was proclaimed a “servant of God,” the first formal
step on the road to possibly being canonized a saint. . The nun died in 1957 aged
26. Several people who benefited from the priest’s service regarded him as their
messiah. Mohanan Athilatt, who had suffered spinal injury 14 years ago, said Zucolachan
was “God to me.” The priest built a house for him in 2008. “Without Zucolachan, my
life would have been miserable,” the 52-year-old Hindu said. Jesuit Father Joseph
Kottukappilly, who has worked in Mariyapuram, says the Church is “greatly indebted”
to Father Zucol for its growth the Malabar region. The Indian Jesuit says the Italian
missioner had built churches, schools and roads, and helped many young people find
self-employment. Father Kottukappilly said his elderly confrere had brought thousands
of people to Catholicism, but there was no objection even from rightwing Hindu groups,
who accuse missionaries of using social service as a façade for converting gullible
low caste Hindus. Pascal Kommileri of Mariyapuram whose parents had converted
decades ago says Father Zucol had given his family “not only a home, but also heaven.” DSS
Sister Sudhaya, who works in the region, says Father Zucol stressed people´s material
and spiritual development. The priest set up several convents in the diocese and supported
“our congregation´s charitable works among the poor.” Jose Thankappan, 40,
a convert from Hinduism who assisted the Italian in his home-building mission, said
Father Zucol helped anyone who came to him. The priest supplied sewing machines to
poor women to help them become self-reliant, he said. In an interview six years
ago, Father Zucol recalled that when he arrived, Malabar region had no roads, schools
or churches. People lived in small huts along with cows or goats in “really pathetic”
conditions. “I began to help them better their living conditions. Later, they … expressed
their desire to become Christians and I happily received them into the Church.” The
missioner was critical of the Kerala Church. He found the Church vibrant in faith
and devotion, but least interested in evangelization. He used to say that the Kerala
Church was not interested in receiving people from other religions. Kookkanam
Rehman, a retired headmaster and a social worker, said Father Zucol preached through
his deeds instead of words.” The Muslim leader said he was impressed by the Italian
missioner who lived in a small and very old home with a leaking roof and without any
modern comforts. Even Communist leader K. Manoharan Kalleri conceded that
the Jesuit missioner was “equal to God” for the local people. He said when he was
the vice president of local village council he had sent several people to the priest
for help. According to Rajan Marari, who manages a fabric store in Thaliparamba,
Mariyapuram´s nearest town, Father Zucol had done what the government was supposed
to do. Source: MattersIndia.com