By Matters India Reporter
Kolkata, Sept 14, 2020: A renowned moral theologian and a priest of the Archdiocese of Calcutta died September 14.
Father Mervyn Carapiet died suddenly, said condolence message from the Archdiocese of Calcutta. He was 87.
Father Carapiet, a preacher, teacher and writer par excellence, was serving St. Thomas Church in Kolkata’s Middleton Row after retirement.
His columns in the Kolkata-based The Herald, the oldest Catholic weekly in India ” were always thought-provoking. His dry sense of humor caught many off guards.
Parishioners of St. Thomas would look forward to the devotional Holy Hour he conducted on Fridays.
“The Archdiocese of Calcutta has lost a holy and devout Priest. He will be missed. May his soul rest in peace,” the press note said.
Funeral Mass and interment will take place at St John’s Church, Sealdah, Kolkata at 10 am on September 15.
He was born on July 10, 1933.
For many years, he was a resident professor of moral theology and formator at Morning Star Regional Seminary, Barrackpore, Kolkata.
He was a prolific writer. Most of his writing dealt with Christian Theological matters, homilies and moral issues. He used to blog since 2009.
Some of his books include “The tension anthropology of Vatican II” (1978) and “The Virtues” (1985).
He wrote thousands of articles in leading theological journals including “Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection”, “Indian Journal of Theology” and several Catholic publications.
In 1995, Father Carapiet was one of the speakers at the next general assembly of the Episcopal Conference of Catholic Bishops’ of the Latin Rite in Calcutta.
He did his college education was at St. Joseph’s College, Bow Bazar, Kolkata from 1941 to 1951.
Fr Mervyn RIP
A very friendly priest who loved kids n would give toffees to them after the Mass. He always lightened my spirits with humour after seeing me on walker. I will miss his Sunday homilies n beautiful writings in the Herald.
May his soul rest in eternal peace n be a shining light in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Respectful farewell to Father Mervyn Carapiet. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed soul.
He was a kind person. May he rest in peace
Yes Fr Mervyn was indeed very humorous. In a Laity Sunday seminar organised at Seva Kendra by the Laity Commission of the Archdiocese of Calcutta, Fr Mervyn said that the Laity must always be alert and take active part in Church activities, especially Parish Finance. He said Sunday collections must not be left aside to be counted on Monday, and that collections should be counted at the end of each Sunday Mass. Failure to do this will result in reduction of the amounts collected. He gave examples of one priest who would always handle huge construction projects. Part of the donations collected in cash would invariably be siphoned off to finance his relatives. He termed this siphoning off of funds as “Memory Lapse on Church Collections!” He said the Laity should devise means to streamline parish/diocesan finance systems to plug this loophole.
Well said! Indeed Fr Mervyn deserves all that. He was my initial mentor in Vianney Hall a centre to promote local vocations. I joined Kolkata Archdiocese in June 1968. My journey began from there n Fr Mervyn was d Rector then. He also taught me Christology n other subjects in Theology in Morning Star Regional Seminary. May his soul rest in peace.