By Irudhaya Jothi

Kolkata: Retired Jesuit Bishop Linus Nirmal Gomes, the oldest Catholic prelate of India, died February 27 in Kolkata. He was 99.

Bishop Gomes, the first prelate of Baruipur diocese in West Bengal, died at 3 am in the infirmary of Kolkata’s St Xavier’s College where he was leading a retired life.

Bishop Shyamal Bose of Baruipur has called for ringing bells in all parishes and institution under the diocese to signify the death of its first bishop.

In a condolence message, Bishop Bose says the funeral will be held at 3 pm on March 1 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Blessed Mother Teresa, Bishop’s House.

Meanwhile Father Raphael Hyde, Jesuit provincial of Calcutta, says the Mass and burial will be a private one because of the Covid restrictions.

The provincial points out that Bishop Gomes had inspired many people by his simplicity, humility, service, love and affection.

“Anyone who met him would come back with peace and joy, an experience of meeting a Spirit- filled person. His warm smile said it all about his interior joy and gratitude to God and to everyone he met.”

Bishop Gomes, who also worked for the Jesuit mission in Bangladesh, had turned 99 years old on September 7, 2020.

The provincial also said they were planning to celebrate Bishop Gomes’ centenary on a grand scale in September this year. “But the Lord had decided to celebrate it with Him in heaven.”

Father P J Joseph, a member of the Jesuit’s Calcutta province, noted that his centenarian confrere had gone around giving communion to the sick in the infirmary. The bishop used to play table tennis before the coronavirus pandemic and led “a very inspiring life.”

Bishop Gomes was born on September 7, 1921, Boro Golla, a small village in present Bangladesh. He entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained priest on November 21, 1954. He was appointed the first bishop of Baruipur on May 30, 1977. He retired on October 31, 1995.

He studied in the Holy Cross High School in Bandura before coming to Calcutta (now Kolkata) for college studies. He stayed in the hostel of St. Xavier’s College and grew close to the staff.

In March 2019, Bishop Gomes told an interviewer that when he came to St Xavier’s, Father Peter Gomes, who taught English, asked what he wanted to do in life. “Father, I want to serve my people in the villages and improve their lives,” he recalled answering.

The English teacher then told him that he could serve villagers better as a priest since he would not have a family. “That inspired me, and I joined the Society of Jesus,” Bishop Gomes told Ritam Saha of the Humans of St Xavier’s College, a platform for all Xaverians to share their experiences, memories and certain defining moments.

He was made the headmaster of St. Peter’s High School on Lower Circular Road, Jesuits’ first Bengali Medium school. The first batch had only nine students, whom he called “navratna” (nine jewels).

“On one occasion, a boy was absent for four days, and I cycled to his home to find out what had happened. He was ill, and his mother, a widow, did not have the resources to nurse him back to health. That was when we stepped in. Each and every one of the navratnas passed the Higher Secondary Examination in their first attempt,” Bishop Gomes recalled.

He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal Lawrence Picachy, Archbishop of Calcutta, on the St. Xavier’s College ground.

Recalling his appointment as a bishop, he said he had found looking after a parish was a huge responsibility. “Now, I had to choose whether I wanted to be a bishop! The letter (from the Pope) told me that I could discuss the issue only with my spiritual father. When I read out the letter to him, he said – “You are not very strong, but accept it – God will help you.”

In 1997, he agreed to join the Jesuit mission to Bangladesh.