By C V Joseph
Bangalore, October 14, 2019: Hundreds of people attended the burial of former Bishop John Baptist Sequeira of Chikmagalur among common people on November 11 in St. Patrick’s Church Cemetery in Bengaluru.
Bishop Sequeira died on October 9 due to old age ailments at the Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor on Hosur Road, Bangalore. He had expressed the desire to be buried among common people in the Hosur Road Catholic cemetery.
A large number of priests and religious, bishops and lay faithful from all over Karnataka paid their last respects to the bishop. The funeral Mass was offered in the auditorium of the Little Sisters of the Poor, Hosur Road, Bengaluru.
His body was brought in procession by the priests of Chikmagalur diocese for the funeral Mass presided over by Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore. Other bishops who concelebrated with him included Archbishops Emeritus Bernard Moras and Ignatius Pinto, Bishops T. Anthony Swamy Chikmagalur, Henry D’Souza of Bellary, Gerald Isaac Lobo of Udupi, Francis Serrao of Shimoga and K.A. William of Mysore.
Bishop Serrao in his homily highlighted that Bishop Sequeira spent all his life as a faithful minister to spread the light of Christ in remote areas.
Bishop Sequeira spent his life for the mission. “He was a father, companion, a friend and a mentor. He was friendly with all and had a special love towards the ex-seminarians. His pastoral life and the episcopal ministry were lauded as he was considered an elder brother and wise father, never forgetting that he was a child of God,” Bishop Serrao noted.