Book on Sunderbans apostle

By Isaac Harold Gomes

Kolkata, March 7, 2025: On February 28, Bishop Shyamal Bose of Baruipur released “The Apostles of the Sunderbans,” a book on Jesuit Father Ante Gabrić (1915-1988), a Croatian missionary in eastern India.

The day marked the 110th birth anniversary of the missionary, who has been declared a Servant of God by his home diocese of Zagreb.

The book launch at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Kumrokhali (Maria Palli), 24-Parganas South was witnessed by Bishop Emeritus Salvadore Lobo of Baruipur, Jesuit Father Irudhaya Jothi (author), Father Prolay Boidya, several other priests and dignitaries from Croatia (Metković).

Bishop Shyamal Bose was baptized by Father Gabrić in 1961 in Basanti parish, where his father Martin Bose was a catechist.

Father Jothi, a food rights and human rights activist in West Bengal, wrote the book with Jesuit Father Mirko Nikolic, one of vice-postulators of Father Gabric’s beatification process.

This book highlights the holiness and the spartan life of Father Gabrić who was hailed as called a “man on fire” and a “man of the frontiers,” and as the “living love of Jesus” by Mother Teresa. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage and is regularly thronged by people of all faiths. The missionary is already a saint for Croatians and to the faithful of Basanti, Marapai and Maria Palli.

The missionary came to India on October 20, 1938, when he was just 23. He was ordained a priest on November 21, 1943, at St. Mary’s, Kurseong, Darjeeling district.

He died exactly 50 years after his arrival in India, on October 20, 1988, at his parish in Maria Palli Palli, which he founded on January 20, 1975.
Earlier, on February 16-17, 2023, while inaugurating a two-day exhibition on the missionary at Christ the King Church, Kolkata, Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Calcutta remarked that Father Gabric spent 50 years in the service of the people, nothing for self, everything for others.
“He was a light to the diocese of Baruipur. His life merged with Mother Teresa’s,” said Sister Mary Joseph – superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, at the exhibition titled “Where Palms Blossom.”

It was jointly organized by Father Ante Gabrić Foundation-Croatia and the Archdiocese of Calcutta and Baruipur diocese, as part of the initiatives of the cause of beatification of the missionary. It featured 40 photographs taken by renowned Croatian photographer Zvonimir Atletić.
The 176-page book has anecdotes and testimonials on Father Ante Gabrić.

Sister Mary Joseph recalled that Father Gabric had a great affinity with Mother Teresa. They were inextricably connected with Croatia. Both were contemporary missionaries in Bengal and communicated fluently in Croatian language.

Provincial Franjo Jambreković, who approved Father Gabric’s mission to India, had earlier played a pivotal role in sending Mother Teresa to her mission in India.

In 1978, Mother Teresa while addressing an audience at Metković, praised Father Gabric, “What Gabrić did in Bengal you should go there and see. It cannot be expressed by words. He brought Jesus into the heart of many in Bengal. He brought Jesus and Mary to families who live a cheerful life now.”

The book explains that the cornerstone of the missionary’s spiritual foundation and happiness was his mother instilling in the family the virtue of self-sacrifice. She taught her nine children to give up something during each meal. She would say: “When you are thirsty, don’t drink right away; wait a little.” This virtue of restraint/self-discipline became an intrinsic part of Father Gabric’s character and he practised it throughout his missionary life in the difficult terrains of the Sunderbans.

Whichever parish he was went, be it Basanti, Morapai, Gosaba, Canning or Kumrokhali (Maria Palli), he would win hearts through his `servant-leadership’ which Jesus taught his disciples on the Last Supper.

He was a hands-on social reformer, and helped build roads, health centres, students’ hostels, organized scouts activities for young boys, church building and renovation, convents for sisters and always endeavoured to ensure the well-being of the downtrodden community. “He looked after every aspect of life—spiritual, material, and social,” says Father Timir Singha who hails from Basanti and is with the Archdiocese of Calcutta as Editor of the Ordo and of the Bengali Herald.

The book particularly dwells on (1) Father Gabrić’s great concern for the poor and his unwavering commitment to bring solace to them by writing extensively to his network of friends and benefactors across the globe; (2) How he initiated a feeding program for 22,600 children in 155 schools in Morapai and 28 neighbouring villages during the devastating Bengal famine of 1967; (3) His regular visits to the sick, elderly and differently-abled. His reputation for exceptional pastoral care was legendary. He never hesitated to answer a call for help, by readily crossing rivers by boat or cycling vast distances or just walking long distances.

The book highlights numerous instances of Fr Gabrić’s pioneering initiatives in socio-economic uplift of the people of the Sunderbans, irrespective of religion, caste and creed:

• Shoe manufacturing units: With Mother Teresa’s intervention, he partnered with Kolkata’s Bata Shoe Company to set up shoe-manufacturing units one in Maria Palli and the other in Jisu Palli (Jesus Village). Nearly 90% of the menfolk in the village benefited from this program.
• Carpentry workshops, tailoring and stitching centres: A tailoring unit with fifty sewing machines was set up in Kumrokhali where a small market developed rapidly, with many residents earning a steady income thanks to the skills-set they learned from Father Gabrić’s programmes.
• Education: Father Gabrić sent young boys and girls to boarding schools in Basanti, Ragabpur, and Kolkata, providing them with close personal guidance. Those who pursued higher education were helped to attend colleges and universities and are now well-placed in society.
• Father Gabrić knew the exploitation of the poor by moneylenders. To counter this, he introduced the concept of “Rice Banks” whereby he would purchase paddy from farmers at prices exceeding the market rate, thereby preventing them from falling prey to unscrupulous moneylenders who offered meagre prices. This paddy would then be stored and later sold at fair prices or distributed freely during times of scarcity. He also provided paddy as seeds to farmers, with the request to return the same quantity after their harvest.

Some Key Attributes of Father Gabrić mentioned in the book

 The Eucharist is central to a priest’s life, representing a continuous participation in Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary. It’s not merely a ritual performed at the altar but a way of life – of transforming ordinary moments into profound spiritual experiences.

 Money is not as an inherent source of sin, but as a potential one, often leading to sin when it is hoarded rather than shared.

 He was a prolific communicator/correspondent. His handwritten letters served as a vital bridge connecting his mission in the Sundarbans to a global community of supporters/benefactors. Around 600 letters stand out as significant contributions to Croatian literature and are preserved in the archives of the Croatian Jesuit Province.

This book has been published by Goethals Indian Library and Research Society, housed in St Xavier’s College, Kolkata. It’s a must read for both laypersons and those who aspire to be priests and nuns by giving up the irresistible pull of today’s materialistic world.