Fr Jacob Carvalho’s favourite saying was: “Let your greatest happiness always be to make others happy.” The eminent Jesuit priest and former principal of St Paul’s High school, Belagavi, died on 12th September 2020, after a brief illness. He was 75 years of age and 57 years in the Society of Jesus. Those who knew him–his former students and those with whom he worked–from around the globe, paid rich tributes to their ‘Great Guruji’. Anyone who knew Jacob would describe him as a quiet, soft-spoken person who was very concerned about all: community members, teachers, domestic staff, relatives and friends. He was administering the newly set-up St Paul’s Pre-university college in his own quiet but adequate way when he was called home to God.

Born on 16th December, 1944, in Kakkeri, Belagavi, Karnataka, Jacob entered the novitiate in the year 1963 at Vinayalaya, Mumbai, and was ordained a priest 30 April 1977 at Fatima Cathedral, Belagavi. He pronounced his final vows on 15th August 1986 at Loyola, Pune. Jacob possessed a unique ability to lovingly bridge the gap between the poor and rich students. He was loved by all. He was never on a pedestal and was always on the people’s level. People felt comfortable in his presence. He was a generous man and was loving and gentle in his pastoral relationships with people.

One of the teachers who worked with Jacob described him as “a great inspirer of thousands of students.  He was well respected for his austere sense of simplicity, empathy, compassion, humility, and divinity. His exemplary and distinguished stewardship was an enlightening inspiration to everyone” Fr Jacob has left a rich legacy for his followers. 

• Ronald D’Souza, SJ