PANAJI
Bishop Anthony (Tony) Rebello SVD (74), a prelate of Goan origin who headed the Diocese of Francistown in Botswana, passed away on Saturday morning.
According to reports, Bishop Rebello had completed the over 20 km Rosary Walk with members of the Johane Mokolobetsi community, a spiritual exercise & devotion very dear to him, which was followed by Mass in the Marian Grotto/Shrine at the main parish centre grounds in Tonota-Francistown.
He felt dizzy and collapsed during Mass but revived after some time and was taken to the parish house to rest while the parish priest continued with the Mass. He was later taken to a clinic in the village, where he passed away a short while later.
Bishop Rebello, who hailed from Fatorda, was born on March 18, 1950 in Nairobi-Kenya, and entered the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) in 1969, completing his noviciate in Khurda, Madhya Pradesh. He concluded his priestly formation at the Divine Word Seminary of Pune (1969-1977) and was ordained a priest in Goa on May 10, 1977.
Following his ordination, he first exercised his pastoral ministry in India and obtained a Bachelor of Education (1977-1979). He was then awarded a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome (1979-1981), and went on to serve as a missionary in Botswana, where he was parish priest in Palapye (1981-1984), in Kenya, where he also held the office of provincial superior (1984-1987), in Antigua, where he exercised his ministry in a rural parish and then in the Holy Family Cathedral (1987-1990); and in Angola, where he held the roles of parish vicar (1990-1992), parish priest (1992-1996) and master of novices (1996-2000).
He then continued his pastoral ministry in India (2000-2002). In 2003, he served as a missionary in Botswana, in the diocese of Gaborone, where he held the office of parish priest of Palapye and Metsimotlhabe, and until now in the Holy Cross parish in Mogoditshane.
