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A linguist who joined hearts and built churches
From Velsao to Vatican?
INTRO: Bishop Ignatius Lobo, Bishop Emeritus of Belgaum, has seen the emergence and growth of His Eminence Ivan Cardinal Dias who is one among those in the reckoning to be the next Holy Father.
In a special invitation essay for Gomantak Times, Bishop Lobo, who now lives a retired life at his palatial ancestral house in picturesque Siolim, profiles the Cardinal.
His Lordship desisted from commenting on the Cardinal's chances of becoming the next Pope, saying that "the selection of the Pope is in the hands of the Holy Spirit".
SIOLIM: Ivan Cardinal Dias, the present Archbishop of Bombay was marked out for higher things already when he joined St Pius X College, Mumbai, for ecclesiastical studies.
No sooner he completed his studies, in Humanities, Phylosophy and Theology, he was picked by the then Archbishop of Bombay, Valerian Cardinal Gracias for studies in Canon Law in Rome.
He had a stint as Assistant Secretary, while I was Secretary to the Cardinal at Archbishop's House, Bombay. Thus, I had occasion to be closely associated with him and to strike up a close friendship. The purpose of the Cardinal sending him for studies in Canon Law was to prepare him to enter the Diplomatic School of the Church in Rome. Having come out with flying colours in Canon Law, he was asked to continue his studies in the Diplomatic School. Having graduated from there, he had to work for a time in the Secretariate of the Holy See.
After his preliminary training, he was posted as Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate in Denmark. There he picked up Danish. The Danes were pleasantly surprised to hear him speak their language. Later he was posted to Indonesia as Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate, where he picked Indonesian. Then he was brought back to Rome for further training in the Secretariate in Rome. It was then that I had occasion to continue our friendship, as I had to attend meetings of Caritas Internationalis, of which I was Vice-President for Asia and Oceania.
Whilst he worked at the Secretariat, he had special care of the Communist countries. This brought him in touch with the Archbishop of Krakow, who was elected in 1978 as Pope John Paul II. Thus explains the close relationship with the late Pope and Mgr Ivan Dias.
Having completed his stint at the Secretariate, he was ordained Archbishop of Rusubisic on 19 January, 1982 and posted as Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Ghana, Togo and Benin till 1987.
From 1987 till 1991, he was Pro-Nuncio to South Korea and from 1991 till 1997 he was Apostolic Pro-Nuncio to Albania, which is largely a Muslim country. Archbishop Ivan Dias had the task of building the Church in Albania and he consecrated the first Bishop in that country.
Pope John Paul II visited Albania and was pleased with the growth of the Church.
Subsequently, as the See of Bombay fell vacant with the retirement of Simon Cardinal Pimenta, the Holy Father Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Ivan Dias to his parent archdiocese of Bombay on 22 January, 1997.
In addition, he had been appointed as a member to several congregations, which explains his many visits to Rome.
He is a linguist, and has a flair for languages. Besides, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese, he is reputed to speak in more than 15 languages. In Mumbai he says Mass in Korean for the people of Korea.
Ivan Cardinal Dias was born on 14 April, 1936. Been born in Bombay, he studied at St Stanislaus High School, Bandra.
After joining St Pius X College in Bombay, he spent his holidays regularly in Velsao, Goa, to be with his old aunt.
Thus he kept his links with Goa, his place of origin.
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