By Matters India Reporter
Patna, Aug 24, 2022: Father John D’Mello, a former Patna Jesuit provincial and renowned spiritual director, died August 24. He was 89.
The death occurred at 7:30 am at Xavier Bhavan at Digha Ghat, a western suburb of Patna, where Father D’Mello was leading a retired life.
The funeral is scheduled at 4 pm on August 25 in the XTTI chapel, followed by burial in the nearby cemetery, according to a message from Jesuit Father Jose Thayil, socius to the Patna province curia.
Father D’Mello was a Jesuit for the past 65 years and a priest for 56 years.
He was born December 14, 1932 in Nagpur, central India. He joined the Patna Jesuits on June 20, 1957 and completed his novitiate from Bombay’s Vinayalaya. After Philosophy at De Nobili College Pune in 1960, he studied theology from West Baden and Bellarmine Schoof of Theology in the United States in 1963.
He was ordained a priest on June 9, 1966. He became a full-fledged Jesuit on January 26, 1977.
He completed his secondary education from St. Francis de Sales High School, Nagpur, in 1949 and higher secondary from Jalgaon in 1951. He did Masters of Business Administration from Notre Dame University in the United States in 1968.
He began his priestly service as the administrator St Xavier’s School in Delhi in 1968. He was appointed administrator and vice principal of St Xavier’s School in Patna in 1970. He became the principal of St Michael’s School in Patna in 1972 for a year. He was appointed administrator of De Nobili College Pune until he was appointed rector of Sacred Heart College Shembaganur, Tamil Nadu, in 1976.
After six years he came back to Bihar and served as a parish priest in Muzaffarpur for a year. He was then elected the Patna Jesuit provincial in 1983, a post he held for six years.
He then served as the rector of XTTI during 1989-2019. He also served as the administrator and coordinator of Kurji Holy Family Hospital during 1996-2019. He was then posted in St Xavier’s Patna in 2020 and two years later he came to Xavier Bhavan for rest.
Respectful farewell to Father John D’Mello. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord and let your perpetual light shine upon the departed soul. In Paradisum Deducant te Angeli.