Fr. Romualdo de Sousa SJ. completes a another Golden Jubilee
“Clearly, a vocation is a gift from God, and no human effort can replace the
action of the Spirit. God uses human instruments.” Interim documents of the
34th General Council of Society of Jesus
The mother of Alfred de Tavares, young Romualdo’s "Prima Maurinha", recounted
what perhaps is the earliest account we have of Romualdo, the boy. She was
bed-sitting him as he battled a particularly vicious bout of typhoid which
stubbornly would not subside. The worst was feared.
His brother, the distinguished surgeon Dr. Wilfred de Souza, tells how much
salutary influence their "Tio Faústino" exercised over them all, especially in
infusing and nuturing the holy vocation in Romualdo. Not that Romualdo needed
much of either infusion or nutrition in this regard”, he reminisces .
“Romualdo, since earliest years, made it quite plain that he was headed towards
priesthood”. Several aunts and cousins, used to chuckle recalling how at the
slightest opportunity, the young Romualdo was wont to mount the nearest
elevation, stool or piano, and render them all a very solemn ‘sermao’ [sermon].
This apparently took place, often, at the prodigious family gatherings at
the ancestral hub in Quítula ward of the village Aldona on the banks of the
Mapusa river that flows into the river Mandovi.
“On our way home from schools for holidays and return, by train through
Margao”, says another illustrious brother, the Texas-based oil virtuoso,
Orlando, “our Papa and Mama (Fermino and Anna Maria) made it imperative that we
visit and spend some time with Tio Faústino.” adding “Not that we required any
persuasion. That visit used to be a virtual highlight of our journeys up and
down. We got off the caminhao or the ferry at Cortalim and tramped the three
kilometres or so to beautiful Sancoale, occasionally getting a bullock-cart
lift; there to be pampered and spoilt with multitude of mangoes and sweets by
his assistants.”
Continues Orlando: “Tio Faústino scrupulously saw to it that we were indeed in
holidays and never imposed any extra spiritual or scholarly tasks upon us. That
may have also favourably impressed upon our Romualdo, that being priest was not
all hardship but included fun ... joy as well. Our uncle had a most endearing
manner in inculcating instruction into those close to him ….and he seems to
have bequeathed that manner copiously to Romualdo, Noémia and, indeed, all of
us.
Romualdo’s Jesuit formation in the 1940s began at Vinayalaya in Andheri-Mumbai,
with a good dose of Latin and Greek and the sound of the bell ringing out
clearly in the silence of the seminary. There sermons and declamations in
Latin, the language of the Catholic Church in the pre-Vatican –II synod that
ushered the language of the people for the services. He always had a good sense
of humour and , according to a Jesuit magazine, “Romualdo had the knackof
leading the conversation: he spoke with gusto about his college experiences,
taking time to deliver the message, having interesting things to entertain
people,and, for that matter, he always remained a great spinner of yarns and
anecdotes and was a good reporter of local politics, news and events …with a
pinch of salt.”
After studies in Vinay, Romualdo went on to Shembag for Philosophy. Either here
or during his Regency, he developed a penchant for psychology. “He had a knack
for getting things done and a sense of resourcefulness” recalls one of his
contemporaries. For theology, Romualdo went to Louvain in Europe and then he
was off to New York for his doctoral studies. He had completed his Masters from
the Jesuit Univeristy Fordham in New York , and Ph.D. form University of
Columbia, USA.
When Fr. Romualdo de Souza sj completed his Golden Jubilee of entry into the
Society of Jesus in 1995, a FAX message sent from Fr.Socius sj of the Goa
Province to Fr. Julian Fernandes sj in Rome, documents part of Fr. Romualdo’s
tumultous life with the Jesuits. Fr. Vasco do Rego SJ was kind enough to locate
the document for me.
It begins matter of factly, “Romualdo, a trained clinical psychologist, stood
out as an educationist while he was the Principal of St.Vincent’s High School,
Pune.” It goes on to say in the very next sentence, “As Principal, he engaged
himself in education, promoting social concern and forming men for others,
committed to bring about a new society, and following the main thrusts that
were engaging Jesuits elsewhere in the world.”
Dr. Jose Colaco, now a practicing paediatrician in Bahamas, remembers Fr.
Romauldo with a deep sense of gratitude for the guidance he received at St.
Vincent's High School, Pune [then spelt as Poona]. In a personal email to me
he wrote, “Fr. Romualdo was my guidance counsellor at St Vincent's High School.
He guided me away from engineering into medicine. He is not a psychiatrist but
a psychologist.”
In 1973, it pleased the then Superior General of the Jesuits [often referred as
the “Black Pope” in the past], Fr, Pedro Arrupe SJ, to appoint the young
Fr.Romualdo as the Jesuit Provincial of Gao-Pune. The chronicler recounts, “He
was a patient listener, inviting the confidence of members; showed qualities of
leadership with a great sense of vision;he was specially instrumental in
launching the intellectual apostolates: the Xavier Center for Historical
Research, Porvorim-Goa, which Fr. Arrupe originally wanted to establish in
Rome, and the institute for the study of Konkani.”
The Thomas Stephens Konknni Kendr or TSKK, adjoining the XCHR at Porvorim, has
changed the way people look at Konkani, the mother tongue of Goans. The
chronicler adds, “He took the initiative of assigning suitable men for the
works and took the unusual step of placing different areas of the Jesuit
Province on a sound financial footing.”
He was “loaned” for a period of three years to Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. This
period of loan stretched to twelve long years during which he set up Management
Institutes at Jasmshedpur and Bhubaneshwar, both on self-sustaining basis.
He has done the same with the Management Institute that is Goa’s pride, Goa
Institute of Management Studies or GIMS, Ribandar, on the banks of the River
Mandovi. GIMS has a simple but well thouth-out Mission Statement “To educate
managers with knowledge, skills and creativity to manage our Nation’s
enterprise competently and confidently, with personal integrity and social
responsibility.” No wonder it is a much sought after institution that has even
begun Executive courses for serving Goa Public Service cadre officers. The
Mustifund Institute of Construction Management, Ponda-Goa, just happened in the
last few year. Not one to rest on laurels, Fr. Romualdo is now busy setting up
the Marian Institute of Hospital Care Management at Sata Inez-Panaji, Goa. That
is the place you are most likely to find him these days.
As the record so well shows, Romualdo’s siblings have done well too: Dr.
Willie, the much admired surgeon turned politician in Goa; Orlando, the
Texas-based top-notch petroleum executive; the gentle, soft-spoken Michael,
"Sir" personified to generations of St Michael High School in Anjuna, and
Noémia, a lifelong spirit of Nirmala Niketan, Mumbai [formerly Bombay].
Compiled by: Miguel Braganza
With inputs
1. Alfred de Tavares of childhood
2. Fr. Vasco do Rego sj [a FAX message from Fr.Socius sj of the Goa
Province to Fr. Julian Fernandes sj in Rome], Panaji-Goa, of Jesuit life
3. Dr. Jose Colaco, Bahamas, of gratitude to a mentor.
4. Gerard D' Souza, management schools.
as a tribute to the great man and humble servant of Jesus through the Society
of Jesus, Pune and Goa Provinces in Western India, Fr. Romualdo de Souza SJ.
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