There has been no mention in Goanet of the passing away of Fr. Stan D'Souza earlier this month in Belgium.
The tribute paid to him by his brother Archbishop Henry D'Souza is given below: S. K Dhoot --- Tribute to Fr. Stan DSouza s.j By Archbishop Henry DSouza Stan lived in a world of his own, which most of us never experience. It was a world of ideas, ideologies and policies. His mathematical expertise had qualified him to enter into the field of demography. The UN picked him up and was deeply impressed by his research qualities and total integrity. It appreciated deeply his acceptance of hard living conditions and his readiness to tour in far-flung and even dangerous terrain. The UN posted him to frontier countries, difficult of access as Afghanistan, or in areas where reliable data were not easy to get. He would particularly recollect his stay for 5 years in Afghanistan, where he was the only priest with 3 other Catholics (all sisters) in that vast country. He toured extensively among the warring tribes and picked up demographic data so essential for UN policies. His posting to Bangladesh gave him the opportunity to begin a Jesuit presence in that country. He made the first Bangladeshi recruit for the Society of Jesus. Stan retired from UN service after 15 years and was a pension holder till his death. He however remained a true Jesuit all through his long UN career. He would always stay in Jesuit communities, if they existed in the areas of his work. Otherwise he would rent very modest lodgings, in spite of the rather high UN position he was holding in the country. He lived a life of practical poverty, choosing to walk rather than to ride; preferring to go by a lower class rather than accept the comfort of an upper one. Once when I was in Rome, I met Fr Kolvenbach, the General of the Society of Jesus. He said to me: Stan is a true Jesuit. I wish that we had more of them in the society. He was very supportive of the work done by Stan and his tribute for his Golden Jubilee in 2004 read: I recall with joy and gratitude the many important apostolic tasks that have been entrusted to you in these fifty years, your deep Jesuit spirit of availability to go wherever the greater glory of God and the service of people needed you most, and your truly outstanding performance in all these varied assignments in the field of demography. Paying special attention to the worldwide problem of poverty, you have rendered great services to the UNO , to various other international agencies, to the Society and to the Church. With the IPC (International Population Concerns) you have also led the way on the path of networking as a tool ever more necessary nowadays, for sharing more widely the fruit of research. Stan lived abroad most of his life, but he did not forget his natural family. He made great efforts to meet them wherever he went. Our family is now scattered over the Continents, Canada and the USA, and India to Australia. His annual visits to Calcutta were days of systematic visiting to the family members. Neither did he forget the Calcutta Mission. He would go long distances at great sacrifice to visit the mission stations in Midnapore, Hooghly and 24 Parganas districts. He did what he could to get funds for their projects. He also cheered and encouraged the personnel in the areas. Stan lived in Belgium from the time of his theological studies and Belgium has been his base for the past decade after his retirement from the UN. I am deeply grateful to the Rector and Community of St Ignace for their kindness to him and their support especially during the recent months of his illness. I have also to thank Madame Wilmot and her family in a special way. They have befriended him for the time of his ordination and over the years have made him part of their own family. I am also grateful to many other Belgian families of our missionaries in India, as the de Cocqs, who offered him their loving support. Stan has gone. He lived a life of great asceticism and commitment. His loyalty and affection for the Society of Jesus was always evident. To us his family, he was a concerned brother, uncle and friend. He died, as he would have wanted to- without giving trouble to any one. When Fr Huart came to give the news, I was saying my breviary. I stopped to receive the news. After Fr Huart left, I picked up the book to continue my prayer. The words before me were those from Revelation They will see the Lord face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. It will never be night again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will be shining on them (Rev. 12/4-5) (Evening Prayer II of Sundays) I was deeply consoled and continued to pray Into your hands Lord, I commend the spirit of Stan. May he rest in peace. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org
