Catholics mourn Bangladeshi Jesuit bishop
Bishop Linus Nirmal Gomes, who turned 100 last year, was a great leader whose life was an example for all
Bishop Linus Nirmal Gomes (center), former bishop of Baruipur in West Bengal and a pioneering member of the Jesuit mission to Bangladesh, died on Feb. 27. (Photo supplied)
Catholics are mourning a prominent Bangladesh-born Jesuit bishop who made outstanding contributions as a church leader in India and as a pioneering member of the Jesuit mission to Bangladesh.
Bishop Linus Nirmal Gomes, former bishop of Baruipur in West Bengal and the most senior bishop in India, died at the Jesuit Community at St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata on Feb. 27. He marked his 100th birthday on Sept. 7 last year.
By Stephan Uttom Rozario
Uncertainty has gripped Bangladesh’s most popular Catholic pilgrimage as church leaders hesitate to hold the annual feast of St. Anthony of Padua amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The St. Anthony of Padua shrine in Panjora village of Gazipur district in the Archdiocese of Dhaka holds the pilgrimage in the first week of February each year, attracting up to 50,000 people in the largest annual Christian gathering in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
The feast of the miraculous Portuguese saint falls on June 13 but in Panjora it is celebrated during February’s favorable weather to encourage pilgrims.
However, the fate of this year’s pilgrimage still hangs in the balance, while rumors have spread the feast will be suspended altogether.