Hundreds of priests and a large number of people participated in the funeral ceremony. Fr. Thomas' beloved mother Saramma(as seen in the Photo beside the coffin) and brothers and sisters who were away in U.S.A. and Australia arrived in time. Archbishop Abraham of Nagpur was the main celebrant of the solemn requiem Mass.
. . . the miscreants, it is believed, removed his helmet and gave a fatal blow with a stone on his head.
. . . The Archbishop of Hyderabad calls FR. Thomas as the first martyr of Andhrapradesh. . .
. . . the miscreants, it is believed, removed his helmet and gave a fatal blow with a stone on his head.
. . . The Archbishop of Hyderabad calls FR. Thomas as the first martyr of Andhrapradesh. . .
(Please read the full report of Fr Mathew Kaniamparampil CMI in the comment of this post. Fr Mathew who wrote this report was the novice master of Fr Thomas. )
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I am hastening to share with my CMI brethren around the world a
report of the funeral of Fr. Thomas Pandippally and more details about his most painful death of this great and first martyr of our congregation. I am sending this report on my way back to Pune after participating in the funeral yesterday, Wednesday, 20th August, at the Chanda Provincial House Chapel, Bellampalli. Hundreds of priests and a large number of people participated in the funeral ceremony.
Fr. Thomas' beloved mother and brothers and sisters who were away in U.S.A. and Australia arrived in time. Archbishop Abraham of Nagpur was the main celebrant of the solemn requiem Mass. Our Fr. Prior General FR.Jose was the main celebrant for the final part of the ceremony.
Fr. Mathew Kaniamparampil preached the Homily in English and Malayalam. Fr. Mathew Kulampalli spoke in Telugu. The Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad also joined the ceremony. The services started by 10.00 a.m. with a silent and prayerful rally through the town. The ceremonies ended by 2.30 p.m. CMI priests and brothers had come from almost all our privences. Many of his batchmates and his formators were seen breaking down in tears.
The last moments of FR. Thomas during earthly sojourn were really
drenched in bloodshed beyond our imagination. According to the postmortem report, he received at least 18 stab wounds. He might have fought with the attackers at least for 45 minutes. Finally the miscreants removed his helmet and gave a fatal blow with a stone on his head.
Yesterday, evening Fr. General, FR. Provincial and myself met the Archbishop of Hyderabad and discussed the matter for about two hours. We expect a high level CBI enquiry into this rarest of the rare incident. The Archbishop has taken the matter with highest priority. He calls FR. Thomas
as the first martyr of Andhrapradesh. For us CMIs, this is the first of its kind in our history.
Paying tearful homage to my dearly beloved student,
Fr. Mathew Kaniamparampil, CMI, Pune
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