By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, April 11, 2026: Jesuit priest who headed the Vatican Communications and Radio in Rome on its English desk for Asia and Indian languages dies at the age of 62 on April 14.
Father Melwin J. Pinto was serving as pro-chancellor of St. Aloysius University, rector of St. Aloysius Institutions, and vice president of the Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society.
His funeral will be held April 13. His body will be kept for public viewing at St. Aloysius College chapel and Divine Mercy Church, Fathima Retreat House, Mangaluru, before the funeral Mass at 3:30 p.m., followed by burial in the Jesuit Cemetery, Mangaluru.
Born in 1963 in Mangaluru, Father Pinto completed his education at St. Aloysius before joining the Jesuit order on June 20, 1981. He was ordained a Jesuit priest on April 14, 1997.
He held an MA in English, a master’s in education, and diplomas in psychology, counselling, and school administration.
He served as headmaster at St. Joseph’s Primary School and High School in Hassan from 1996 to 1999, before founding St. Joseph’s Indian PU College, where he was principal until 2007.
He later led St. Aloysius High School, Mangaluru, from 2007 to 2011 and returned to Hassan as principal of St. Joseph’s PU College until 2012, according to a press release from St. Aloysius Institutions.
Father Pinto also worked with Vatican Radio in Rome on its English desk for Asia and Indian languages. He served as superior and director of Fatima Retreat House, Mangalore, for two years from May 2017, before becoming rector of St. Aloysius Institutions.
“We remember him as a beacon of wisdom whose leadership shaped the very heart of our institutions,” said Father Praveen Martis, vice chancellor of St. Aloysius University. “His life was shining with service and glowing with compassion.”
Alwyn D’Sa, former registrar of St. Aloysius University, remembered Father Pinto as “compassionate, wise, graceful and ever smiling, always available to his students or staff.”
“He could move with everyone, a true and authentic Jesuit, and a great educator who will continue to be our inspiration,” D’Sa told Matters India.