PANAJI
Former Superior General of the Society of Pilar Fr Jesuino Agnelo Almeida, sfx, passed away on Tuesday. He was 86.
The funeral Mass of late Fr Jesuino Almeida was celebrated at the Mission Seminary Chapel in Pilar on Wednesday at 4 pm.
Hailing from Cansaulim, Fr Jesuino was born on December 4, 1937 and joined the Pilar Seminary in 1952. After completing his Theological studies, he made his final profession into the Society on June 16, 1963 and was finally ordained a priest at the Eucharistic Congress, on December 2, 1964.
Soon after his ordination, Fr Jesuino did his pastoral training at Bombay and Rourkela, Jharkhand till 1965. He was appointed Prefect of the Minor Seminary, Pilar, (1966-1967) and also, Professor of the Seminary (1966-1969).
From 1969 to 1970, Fr Jesuino was appointed as Assistant Parish Priest in Collem. In 1969, Fr Jesuino was deputed to Andaman & Nicobar Mission and was appointed Asst. Parish Priest followed by appointment as Parish Priest (1971-1973), of Port Blair Parish. Later, Fr Jesuino was appointed Superior of the Mission of Andaman & Nicobar Islands (1973-1981).
In the General Chapter of 1981, he was elected the Superior General of the Society. Fr Jesuino was then appointed Rector of the Maior Seminary, Pilar (1987-1989), followed by his deputation to the new mission in Haryana and was made the In-charge of the new mission unit at Narnaul, Haryana (1990-2003). He was then once again appointed to serve in Port Blair (2003-2009) as Vicar General of the Diocese and was later appointed in the Mission Seminary as the Spiritual Director (2009-2013).
From 2014 till 2016, Fr Jesuino was attached to Fr Agnel Region at Verna Unit. He was then appointed once again as Spiritual Director of Mission Seminary (2016-2023). In June, 2023, Fr. Jesuino was attached to the Monastery Local House, while continuing to help in the spiritual formation of the Seminarians.
He took keen interest in inter religious dialogue, and was the founding member along with Fr. John Pereira, of the first inter-religious forum of the Society - Solidarity Forum, in 1988. He always wore white kurta and pajama to express his passion for Gandhian philosophy. He was a vocal supporter of Konkani movement ” especially that primary education should be in the mother-tongue. He was a voracious reader as well a good writer, both in English and Konkani.
