Opus Dei prelate Bishop Echevarría remembered in India

Bishop Echevarría, second successor of Opus Dei founder St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, had visited India three times.

Mumbai:  Opus Dei head Bishop Javier Echevarríais seen as a "father" in India, said Kevin de Souza, director of the Opus Dei Centre in Mumbai following the prelate’s death in Rome on Dec 12.

Bishop Echevarría, second successor of Opus Dei founder St Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, had visited India three times: in April 1996, in July-August 2008, and in January 2014.

“In each visit, he met believers, aid workers and friends of Opus Dei,” De Souza told Asia News, recollecting the prelate’s India visits.

In 2008 he stopped in Delhi before travelling to Australia for World Youth Day. Here he visited the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and prayed in front of the statue of St Josemaría, installed in the baptistery the previous year.

"On that occasion, he lit three candles: one for the Holy Father, one for women, and one for the men of the Prelature in the world."On his way back from Australia, the bishop stopped in Mumbai, where he visited the Basilica of Our Lady of the Mount in Bandra. Speaking to those present, he said he was amazed to see "the hustle and bustle of people moving about, so many cars and rickshaws.”“All this,” he had added, “is an expression of life in this city and I have found it easier to pray with you and for you. It's also easy to love you more each day."

MgrEchevarría often travelled to India, de Souza explained, to fulfil a wish St Josemaría had expressed. The latter had never had the opportunity to visit the country and was excited about the growing number of Indian members in Opus Dei.

In Mumbai, the Prelate also said: "I want to be an Indian as you are. I wanted to come to India especially to tell you that God loves you as his beloved. Many saints have loved you in the same way. St Josemaría loved India and all countries.”

"You and I,” he said, “have to till the land of India with prayer, with our joyful work, and with a sense of responsibility in social life. We have to sow the seed of truth."

A close associate of St Josemaria, Bishop Echevarría was the last of the original generation of clerics to lead Opus Dei. He was elected prelate of Opus Dei in 1994. He died of complications due to a pulmonary infection on Dec 12.

Source: Herald Malaysia