Pioneering Jesuit missionary in northeastern India dies

By Frida Toppo

Bishnupur, Sept 9, 2020: A pioneering Jesuit missionary who had worked for four decades in northeastern India has died.

Father Jayant Kumar Padival died around 10 pm on September 8 in Father Muller Hospital, Mangaluru, a port town in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. He was 71 and a Jesuit for 54 years.

According to Karnataka Jesuit Provincial Father Dionysius Gerard Leonard Vaz, the burial service is scheduled at 3:30 pm on September 9. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions, only a few people are attending the burial service.

Father Padival had worked in northeastern India from 1980. He served people of Manipur, Meghalaya and Nagaland states through spiritual animation and pastoral ministry.

He was the first to bring the Jesuit mission to Manipur. He was the first parish priest of St Ignatius Church and principal of Loyola School Bishnupur in the Archdiocese of Imphal.

“He had a sincere and deep love for the poor. He had been a great support for the first group of Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate in the mission land of Manipur,” said Sister Bianca (Rosy) Arahna of the same congregation who had worked with Father Padival in Manipur for years.

“Today the Catholics are spread on the hills of St Ignatius Church Bishnupur because of his untiring zeal for the souls,” the nun told Matters India.

Father Padival was born on April 16, 1940.in Mangalore. He entered the Society of Jesus on June 19, 1976, and was ordained a priest on April 27, 1979. He did his seminary formation in Karnataka and joined the Nagaland mission in 1980.

He learned Manipuri and wrote books in that language.

Father Padival worked in Chizami for four years with a brief interval for tertianship. He then moved to Bishnupur in 1984 to be the headmaster and parish priest for eight years.

He served as a spiritual guide for the minor seminarians in Imphal during 1993-1997 and worked as principal of St Xavier’s School Moirang 1998-2002, at a time when threats and death warrants from underground outfits in Manipur was commonplace.

He moved his base to Shillong in 2003 to become the socius (secretary) to the novice master. In2006, he was assigned to St. Ignatius Loyola Parish, Maweit.

In 2011, he returned to Manipur, as the pastor of a remote parish in Liyai village, among the Poumaipeople. He worked there for six years as the parish priest and principal.

Weak lungs took him back to Karnataka in May 2020. “Sadly it was the same weak lungs that took him back to his heavenly father,” Jesuit Father Anand Pereira, consulter of Jesuit Kohima Region, told Matters India.

According to Father Melvil V Pereira, superior of the Jesuit Kohima Region, cold and inclement weather of the hills in northeastern India affected Father Padival’s health and on doctors’ advice he chose to return to the Karnataka Province. He then stayed at Fatima Retreat House, Mangaluru.

“Though his name may not feature in Kohima Jesuit Region, his memories will remain firmly etched in our hearts,” Father added.

Jesuit Father Gerald D’Souza, principal of Good Shepherd School, Gunjung, Assam, described his senior confrere as “a man of few words, deeply religious, simple in his lifestyle, gifted in directing souls, and friend of the marginalized.”

Jesuit Father Boniface Louis, a senior priest, said, “Father Padival was a good retreat preacher. He touched the hearts of many by his preaching. He had a great love and concern for the poor. We can never forget his committed and dedicated service for the needy.”

Amurei Devi, a teacher at Loyola School, Bishnupur, expressed “deep sorrow” over the passing away of Father Padival. “He was like my own father. As a missionary, he was available at any time of the day.”

Setu Singh, a senior teacher at St Xavier’s School, Moirang, Manipur, expressed shock at “the sudden demise of our former principal Father Padival. He was a simple and dedicated principal in respect of school administration. May his soul rest in peace in heaven.”