Msgr Marcel J Pinto (92), former Vicar General of Chickmagalur Diocese and was spending his retired life at the Little Sisiter of the Poor, Mangalore, passed away on Apr 28, 2021.
Mortal remains can be viewed at 1 pm at Little Sisters of the Poor convent followed by Mass on Thursday, April 29 at 3:30 pm followed by burial at Holy Cross Church, Kulshekar cemetery.
Covid 19 lockdown guidelines and protocols to be strictly followed.
Eulogy from Gerard Pinto
In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death. Proverbs 12:28
This proverb in a sense sums up the life of our dear uncle, Fr. Marcel and we always believed deep down in our hearts as the eternal man. Like we expect the sun to rise every morning, we too expected him to be there at every milestone reached in our family.
It is hard to imagine that the phone will not ring a little past 8 in the morning on any of our birthdays and anniversaries. In retrospect, we refused to see it coming in the last few years, when his visits were not as frequent, his long flawlessly written letters and the greeting cards stopped coming.
To our mother, he was ‘Datto’, the elder brother and to us his nephews and nieces he was the favourite uncle who always visited us armed with a whole bunch of goodies. For his grand nieces and nephews he had carefully-chosen and endearing prefixes to their names, calling them ‘sweet’, ‘darling’, ‘dearest’, ‘precious’ and ‘charming’.
His upright stance more than exemplified his upright nature. He believed walking in the path of righteousness was life, and never deviated from it. His faithfulness to his master was unshakable and even when confronted with medical emergencies he refused to undergo bypass and later even radiation for potential cancerous tissues, firmly believing in his Saviour’s loving protection. This was also the reason for him to drop off to sleep instantly upon touching the pillow every night.
His simplicity can be gauged from the fact that he had virtually no possessions, and till a few years ago would wake up at 4:30 in the morning to wash his own clothes.
Whenever any of us would offer to buy him anything that he might need, his prompt response was that he had everything that he needed.
He was generous to a fault and always indulged us if there was something that we liked, he would carry loads of it on his next visit. We would always wonder how he managed to carry all that cargo remembering each one’s likes while frequently changing trains and climbing bridges to reach his destination.
The lasting image for us will be that of an Indian Santa Claus if ever there was one. He would even carry chocolates in his pockets anytime he expected to meet children at functions in the parish or school.
The other image is of one at the Holy Eucharist, the consecration and the final blessing. We do not remember him ever missing celebrating the Eucharist, even wading through water in mumbai to reach the church in time for mass.
For all of us he was a tremendous source of inspiration, especially in these times when our faith seems to be shaken looking at the situation around.
His quest for learning seemed endless and he never shied away from using technology to draw inspiration for his daily Eucharist and Holy Hour. He would even regularly use social media like WhatsApp to keep in touch with us, sending interesting forwards, songs and messages.
A virtual farewell was not what we had in mind, but having personally witnessed him basking in the love and attention of the sisters and inmates who cared for him, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, we are comforted by the knowledge that he was in a happy place, surrounded by people he loved till the end.
As in life and so in death he decided to go quietly with his Lord and Master beside him.
Life and immortality are the sure effects of being in the way of righteousness. This is what he believed in and we are all sure that he has claimed his reward in heaven already.
A virtual goodbye from all of us here till we meet again.
Final Journey of Msgr Marcel J Pinto (92)