Cardinal Pimenta passes away; funeral tomorrow

The end came around 9pm Friday at Clergy Home where he was recuperating from age-related ailments.

A file photo of Cardinal Simon Piementa

Mumbai:  Cardinal Simon Pimenta, retired archbishop of Mumbai, passed away Friday night. He was 93.

Funeral of the cardinal would be held tomorrow at the church of St. John the Evangelist in Marol tomorrow. Special mass would be held at the Holy Name Cathedral at noon followed by the funeral mass at 5 pm. The body would be kept for public viewing ahead of the service.

The end came around 9pm at Clergy Home where the cardinal was recuperating from age-related ailments. Auxiliary Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes said the cardinal was well all day.

"He had eaten his dinner and was resting when one of the nurses in the home found him slumped in his chair. A doctor was quickly summoned but the end had come by then," he said.

Senior priests from the Archbishop's House in Colaba had come to visit another clergyman who had suffered a heart attack and was admitted to Holy Family Hospital in Bandra. It was then that they heard of Cardinal Pimenta's death and rushed to Clergy Home.

Cardinal Pimenta was born on March 1, 1920, in Marol village, Andheri, to Joseph Anthony and Rosy Pimenta. He was an alumnus of St John the Evangelist School and St Xavier's College. He was ordained priest on December 21, 1949. He retired as Cardinal at the age of 75 to make way for Ivan Dias.

"He was a nice, holy person who will be remembered for his giving, generous ways. He served as Cardinal from 1988 through 1987. He was an important leader not just in Mumbai but indeed India given that he was elected president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) three times and visited Rome to attend various Synod meetings," said Fr Savio.

The Mobai Gaothan Panchayat mourned the death of the man who made the East Indian community proud.

Soruce: times of India