Fr Sebastian Fernandes SJ (67), of Karnataka Jesuit Province, passed away in Bangalore on February 10, 2016.
Funeral on Thursday February 11 at 3 pm in St Joseph’s Indian High School auditorium, Bangalore, followed by burial at Mount St Joseph cemetery on Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore.
Hailing from Loretto parish, Mangalore, Fr Sebastian was born in 1948 and joined the Jesuits in 1965. He was ordained a priest in 1978.
Fr Sebastian served for over 13 years as the estate manager of St Joseph’s Estate, Gudaluru, Tamil Nadu, which then belonged to the Karnataka Jesuits. Later he was the parish priest of St Joseph’s Church, Anekal, Bangalore, before taking over as the Controller of Examination at St Joseph’s Commerce College, Bangalore, where he served for seven years.
Always ready to go wherever his superiors sent him, he became the Correspondent of St Xavier’s College, Gulbarga and worked there with utmost dedication. However, he became ill and had to be shifted to Bangalore about six months ago.
People who know him recognise him as a cheerful, kind and humane priest. He won the hearts of people wherever he went. Even during his difficult days of ailment, he wore a cheerful smile on his face and bore his suffering silently. “Fr Sebastian was close to nature. Agriculture was his passion. A priest full of life, he was always close to simple people,” says Fr Melwyn D’Cunha SJ. His devotion to the Eucharist and the passion with which he broke God’s word characterised his dedication to his priesthood.
Fr Stany D’Souza SJ, the Provincial of Karnataka Jesuits and all Jesuits of Karnataka have mourned the demise of Fr Sebastian.