Lahore (AsiaNews) – “We are grateful to the services of the Belgian Capuchins who toiled in this land and worked very hard to establish the church in the Punjab over [a period of] 120 years, starting in 1886,” said Mgr Lawrence John Saldanha, archbishop of Lahore. He spoke at a gathering of 35 priests and religious from different congregations, who came together at St. Mary’s Friary in Gulberg, a commercial area of the city. The prelate noted that even before the Italians and the Dutch, “Belgian Capuchins spearheaded the establishment of the local Church”.
Among the missionaries who worked in the diocese, the bishop thanked with a special show of affection Fr Daniel (pictured), who “worked for more than 30 years to train seminarians and nuns.”
In the presence of the general of the Order of the Friars Minor Capuchin (OFM Cap), Fr Peter Rogers, the archbishop expressed the hope that, even if he was going back to Belgium, Father Daniel “may continue to serve as the secretary of the province.”
Speaking to Father Daniel, Mgr Sebastian Francis Shaw, auxiliary bishop of Lahore, stressed his love for “teaching”, congratulating him on “his good health at the age of 77”.
The prelate went on to urge him to “continue to provide guidance to the vice province here in Pakistan from Belgium”.
Fr Abid Habib, OFM Cap, also mentioned Father Daniel’s teaching abilities, calling him “a man of languages” capable of influencing others through “discipline and dutifulness”.
Lastly, Fr Andrew Nisari, vicar general of the archdiocese, noted that “Fr Daniel has multiplied himself in his students” and that the “Pakistan Church will always be grateful to him”.
In his farewell address, Fr Daniel Suply, who celebrated 50 in the priesthood in 2009, thanked Archbishop Saldanha, Fr Sebastian, Fr Peter Rogers who came from Rome, as well as all the priests and nuns present at the event.
The Franciscan talked about his arrival in Pakistan in 1961, his service in three parishes, and his coming to Saint Mary’s Minor Seminary, first as a teacher, then as its rector.
* Fr Inayat Bernard is a Pakistani priest in the Archdiocese of Lahore and secretary of the Catholic Press Association of Pakistan.
