By Matters India Reporter
Singida (Tanzania) Dec.1, 2018: The Indian nun was buried in Tanzania on December 1, four days after she died in a road accident.
Sister Rohini Pradhan, 44, was a native of the Kandhamal district of Odisha, eastern India.
Bishop Edward Elias Mapunda of Singida officiated the funeral Mass at 10 am (local time) on December 1.
Sister Pradhan was buried in the parish cemetery where the priests are buried. More than a thousand people participated in the funeral service. “I wonder this is this the hundredfold that the Lord promised when we leave our home and people,” said superior general Sister Chris of Carmelite Sisters of St. Teresa (CSST).
“God providentially brought us to this place to experience the overwhelming goodness of the Tanzanian people through this tragic event. When we arrived here on November around 10 pm (local time) the priests of the parish and the people were praying and waiting for us,” Sister Chris said.
On the day of the accident they remained with CSST Sisters till midnight. Every day lay people, religious and priests come from faraway places and gather around Sister Pradhan’s photo to pray for her and they make a contribution for the funeral. Death is a celebration of life for these people. They give solemn farewell for the departed one, the superior general said.
“Once we come to this place, the people accept us as their family members. Therefore the diocese, parish and the people take the responsibility of arranging for the funeral. A few members of the diocesan unit have already come to stay with us to assist us. Men are cleaning the cemetery, women the church and the boys from the seminary our compound,” she added.
The accident occurred when the member of CSST went to the airport along with two other nuns (Sister Lidwin and Sister Vincy), also Indians, to receive Sister Chris, who was making an official visit their convent in Tanzania.
According to sources, one of the nuns drove the jeep. As one of its wheels burst the vehicle fell into a ditch. Sister Pradhan died on the spot, while Sister Lidwin and Sister Vincy are admitted in a local hospital in Tanzania and doing well.
Sister Pradhan is the first Indian member of the congregation to die in a foreign land.
Sister Pradhan hailed from Dodingia village under the Our Lady of Charity Parish, Raikia town in Kandhamal district. It is under the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Archdiocese.
She was appointed a missionary in Tanzania in this June. Earlier she worked in Balliguda, Phulbani of Kandhamal district, Chatrapur in Berhampur diocese and Gwalior of Madhya Pradesh (Central India).
The CSST congregation was founded in 1887 at Ernakulam, Kerala. Its members are engaged in education, care of aged, destitute and orphans. It also manages healthcare institutions and hospices.