ASIA/PAKISTAN - The Church mourns the missionary Bishop of the Vicariate of Quetta

Wednesday, 16 December 2020 local churches faith mission evangelization bishops

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Quetta (Agenzia Fides) - Hundreds of people gathered at the San Francesco School complex in Quetta to attend the funeral and pay homage to Bishop Victor Gnanapragasm OMI, first Bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta, who died at the age of 80 on 12 December due to a heart attack. The missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate originally from Sri Lanka had served in Pakistan for 47 years and was buried yesterday, December 15, in the Cathedral of the Holy Rosary in Quetta.
Cardinal Joseph Coutts presided over the funeral Mass concelebrated by the other Bishops of Pakistan as well as priests from all over the country. Archbishop Joseph Arshad, President of the Pakistani Catholic Bishops' Conference, said in his homily: "We have lost a faithful missionary and a servant of God, who served the faithful in Pakistan with great love and dedication and greatly contributed to the development of the Church in Pakistan and in the Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta". The Archbishop recalled that the Bishop and his Oblate confreres "gave the best of themselves for the growth and development of the Vicariate, thanks to their missionary work in various parts of the province of Baluchistan".
Mgr. Samson Shukardin OFM, Bishop of Hyderabad, in an interview with Fides said: "We have lost a very humble and hardworking brother, who spent himself with missionary passion in this mountainous and hilly area of Baluchistan, to announce the Gospel and to serve the poor and needy". "Reorganizing the missions of the Church in Quetta was not an easy task: Bishop Victor traveled long distances to reach the faithful and meet their spiritual and religious needs", he recalled.
Bishop Victor Gnanapragasm was born on November 21, 1940 in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, was ordained a priest on December 21, 1966. He came to serve the People of God in Pakistan in 1973 as a missionary of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), he carried out his pastoral ministry in the Catholic dioceses of Faisalabad and Multan and was also Superior of the OMI delegation of Pakistan from 1980 to 1982. He was appointed Apostolic Prefect of Quetta in December 2001, when the territory of Quetta was separated from the Catholic diocese of Hyderabad.
On April 29, 2010 Pope Benedict XVI elevated the Apostolic Prefecture of Quetta to the rank of Apostolic Vicariate and the religious was appointed Apostolic Vicar. He was ordained a Bishop on July 16, 2010. Under his leadership, 19 new churches were built in the territory of the Vicariate, various Episcopal Commissions established and several ordained diocesan priests. On a social level, he was greatly appreciated for having promoted three housing plans for the faithful, often destitute. (AG-PA) (Agenzia Fides, 16/12/2020)