Covid-19 cruelly cut down Fr Vijay Kumar Prabhu, “a Jesuit with a large heart and deep humanity”, who left us on 15th September 2020, the feast of the Mother of Sorrows. He has rightly been described as a gentle and generous man of deep spirituality and a positive attitude.
Born in a devout Catholic family in Madanthyar, Dakshina Kannada, on 11th October 1940, when he joined the Society on 29 June 1959 – one among the first batch of fresh novices to be housed in the just inaugurated Mount St Joseph – Vijay bore the name of Victor Gonsalves, which he later changed to Vijay Kumar Prabhu, and was ordained a priest on 25th March 1972 under that new name. From then on, for nearly 48 years, barring a couple of years spent in Rome securing the Doctorate in Philosophy from the Gregorian University, Fr Vijay had been quietly but fruitfully spending himself in the service of God’s Kingdom as a teacher, formator, superior, provincial, spiritual director and mentor, until the end came suddenly and unexpectedly in the wee hours of the morning on 15th September 2020.
Despite failing health, Fr Vijay was busy directing eight and thirty-day retreats, and people have been struck by his great intellectual, spiritual and human depth as well as his friendliness, warmth, affability, kindness and understanding. And so, as we bid a painful farewell to a much loved companion, we indeed mourn his death, but even more, we celebrate his eventful life lived wholly for God and God’s people, and thank God for giving us the privilege of knowing and loving a rare human being, an inspiring Jesuit and a compassionate priest like Fr Vijay Kumar Prabhu. May he rest in peace.
- Frederick D’Silva, SJ
