By Jacob Peenikaparambil

Indore, March 27, 2023: When Mahatma Gandhi died, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said, “The light has gone out of our lives.” At the unexpected death of Father Varghese Alengaden, all his dear ones, friends, admirers and well-wishers feel that a shining light has gone out of their lives.

Father Varghese, as he was called, was a light that enlightened and guided thousands of students, teachers, parents, principals and many others through his motivational talks, inspirational seminars and powerful and persuasive writings.

Through the Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) he founded 30 years ago he has reached out to thousands of students, teachers, principals, parents, bishops, priests, sisters and civil society members.

After working 12 years in the diocese of Sagar, in 1993, he got inspiration to work for interfaith harmony and unity of India through the young people. With the permission of the then bishop of Sagar he came to Indore to start his new mission, USM, with the blessings of late Bishop George Anathil.

Father Varghese had immense trust and faith in the youth and in their potential to change society. He used to say, “Youth is not only the future but also the present.”

His vision for India and the world is perfectly in tune with the vision of India as envisaged in the preamble of the Indian Constitution and the ‘Regin of God’ as envisioned by Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth was the source of his inspiration and Mahatma Gandhi was his role model in building an inclusive India by following the path of Non-Violence and interfaith harmony. He has read half a dozen books on Mahatma Gandhi and showed the movie ‘Gandhi’ to hundreds of students and teachers.

Father Varghese was a prophet after the model of Jesus with courage, compassion and creativity. Like Jesus he was fearless in his speeches and writings.

Sometimes he was fierce in his criticism of the Church for the deviations, lapses, corruption and scandals within it. When people accused him of mudslinging on the Church, he said that he loved the Church and that is why he pointed out the aberrations in the Church.

He was a man of profound compassion. For him compassion was not giving charity, but respecting the dignity of human beings and trying to remove the causes of suffering.

In the USM community that he led during the last 30 years, there are no workers, but all are treated as partners in a common vision. Whenever he visited any institution, he took his driver with him to the dining hall and the driver was asked to sit next to him.

His creativity was seen in the training programs he designed for the students, teachers, principals and the seminar for parents. They are unique in their contents and methodology. He has designed one-week Enlightened Leadership Training for high school students in such a way that at the end of the training the students undergo a genuine transformation.

Christo Centric Leadership Retreat for bishops, priests and the consecrated persons is another example of his creativity. Movies that highlight sociopolitical and religious issues are used for social analysis and drawing insights and learning.

He had a magical power not only to attract people and build friendship with them, but also to nurture it. Hundreds of messages of best wishes and prayers were received from his friends, students and teachers when he was hospitalized for heart surgery.

Father Varghese believed strongly and spoke boldly that the followers of Jesus Christ have to follow His way, the way of love expressed in forgiveness and reconciliation, compassion, justice and respect for human dignity. “Unfortunately, many Christians remain at the level of worshipping Jesus,” he used to say and write.

His 24×7 availability with the caption, “I am busy, I have time for you,” his extraordinarily warm hospitality and respecting the dignity of all with equal treatment to everyone was a unique characteristic of Father Varghese. Anyone who visited the USM community could experience the warmth of his generous hospitality.

He has written a small book titled ‘Hospitality is Spirituality’ based on some of the practices followed in the USM. Father Varghese was present with some other members of USM community at the gate to greet the guests coming to USM as well to send them off, even if the guest came in the middle of night. Even the neighbours could hear the sound of his greeting, “Hearty Welcome.”

His utter faith in the providence of God was reflected in running a national movement in rented premises without owning any land and building and without applying for funds either to the government or to any donor agency for the last 30 years. He did not want to occupy six feet of land even for his grave and that is why he opted for the cremation of his body. One of the quotes kept in his room is of Mahatma Gandhi: “I have no property and yet I feel that I am perhaps the richest man in the world.”

Another unique practice followed by Father Varghese was writing his journal daily with observations, insights based on the observations and resolutions. He wrote his journal without fail until he was admitted to hospital for heart surgery on March 2. There are 45 volumes of his journal with more than 36,000 pages of A 4 size paper. Indeed, it is a marvellous feat.

Father Varghese was a prolific writer, motivational speaker and a fervent advocate of Gandhian values. He has written more than 30 books on various social, religious and educational issues and hundreds of articles in periodicals and newspapers. “Ho Jayega,” “Burn Books, Burn Brains,” “Struggle, Smile, Stay,” “Educare,” “The Key,” and “But God was There” are some of his books.

Many people used to look forward with curiosity and enthusiasm to his articles in Matters India and Indian Currents. Many of his articles were challenging and sometimes provoking because he spoke truth to power.

Father Varghese conducted more than 300 seminars for school teachers, facilitated renewal programs and retreats for 14,617 priests and nuns in 312 groups, addressed 215, 600 parents in 235 schools and thousands of students in about 500 schools during the last 30 years. He organized 9 National Peace Conventions in which an average 300 people participated from different parts of India in order to motivate people to work for peace with the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi.

The legacy left by Father Varghese can be summarized as building a civilization of love through interfaith harmony and motivating and training young people as catalysts. Becoming partners in his mission is the best homage one can pay to Father Varghese.

(Carmelite of Mary Immaculate Father Jacob Peenikaparambil is a close associate of Father Varghese Alengaden. The write up on him is based on Father Jacob’s experience of working as a team member in USM.)