THE GOAN NETWORK
PANAJI
Describing late General Sunith Rodrigues as a true patriot and devout Christian, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi Archdiocese on Monday afternoon said the hallmark of General Rodrigues was his humility, honesty and integrity, both as chief of army staff and later, as governor of Punjab and administrator of Chandigarh.
Archbishop Couto was delivering his homily at the funeral mass of the departed General at the Holy Family Church in Alto-Porvorim at 1 pm.
Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao was the main celebrant, while others concelebrating the Mass were Archbishop Couto, Bishop Ignatius Loyola Mascarenhas of Simla-Chandigarh diocese and about six other priests.
In his homily, Archbishop Couto said General Rodrigues had three simple tenets.
“The first tenet was to put India first, while the second was ‘I answer to my country and to my God’. The third tenet was ‘there is no limit to what can be achieved, as long as you don’t care who gets credit for it’. This was the mark of his humility, honesty and integrity, both as chief of army staff and later, as governor of Punjab and administrator of Chandigarh,” said Archbishop Couto.
“General Rodrigues was a true patriot and a devout Christian,” he added.
Archbishop Couto recalled that General Rodrigues, while serving as governor, had initiated many schemes for the welfare and upliftment of those living in the periphery, particularly the street children and slum dwellers.
“Bishop Ignatius Mascarenhas mentioned to me that he was very close to the general while he was a simple priest at the St Thomas Church in Delhi.
“Bishop Mascarenhas recalled to me that the General had come to him with his uniform and other military insignia to be blessed by him on the day he took over as chief of army staff in 1990,” said Archbishop Couto.
Speaking earlier at the beginning of the Mass, Archbishop Ferrao also summed up in a few words the qualities of General Rodrigues as an “outstanding citizen of this country, eminent Goan and a loyal son of the Church.”
He invited the congregation to pray that God may now reward General Sunith with the fullness of life and peace, and to pray that the members of the bereaved family may have the strength to accept this painful departure in a spirit of surrender to God’s will.
