Founder of Fr. Agnel Ashram - Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues
| ➤ | Born in Goa in March 1912, with exceptional qualities of both mind and heart, Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues completed his priestly studies with laurels in 1934 in the historical Seminary of Rachol in Goa. He founded an Indian religious society with the aim of integrating the aspirations for a free and independent India into the Christian message and selfless service to the poor and downtrodden. |
His dream
His dream of founding a purely Indian Missionary Society to carry out the living message of the Gospel to all corners of India became a reality, when in 1939, overcoming many insurmountable difficulties, he succeeded, with the help of five priests and two lay brothers, in re-organising the old Society of Pilar, which was slowly becoming extinct.
A man of vision
A man of vision and farsightedness, he soon conceived the idea of having a Seminary of the Society, to impart adequate missionary training to the future candidates of the Society. The formation of the Xaverian Co-operators’ Association contributed immensely towards this end. The faithful were given an opportunity to participate and help the missionaries of Pilar.
Publication of magazine
To make the Society known all over India and abroad, and to foster the missionary spirit amongst the English speaking people, Fr. Rodrigues was responsible for the publication of ‘INDIA’, a doctrinal and informative English monthly magazine of the Society.
He succeeded in convincing the Patriarch of Goa to entrust to the Society of Pilar, the publication of the bilingual weekly ‘VAURADDEMCHO IXTT’ (The Workers Friend). Under his able Editorship, it became a well-balanced paper in Goa, championing the rights of the workers and the poor.
True to the mission of the Church, he served the cause of freedom, national integration, social justice, protection of orphans and technical education. Like Jesus, he suffered and sowed the seed for man’s prosperity and the tree blossomed!
➤ It was this great love for India that sustained him in his resistance to the undue pressure from the colonial Portuguese Government ruling Goa at that time. They were forcing him to toe their line and collaborate with them in their campaign against India in the two periodicals, organs of the Society of Pilar of which he was the Editor. Faithful to his love for India, he preferred to leave Goa and in 1954 he took refuge in Mumbai.
➤ Post-Independence, India found itself in the grip of the Industrial Revolution. The country would require thousands of skilled workers and Engineers if the revolution was to succeed. Fr. Conceicao saw his opportunity to contribute towards the progress of the nation by starting a Technical Education Complex at Bandra.
➤ But how could he, who had no knowledge of Technology, venture to start such a Complex? Such a project would require huge capital investment and he was without a penny in his purse.
➤ Where there is a will there is a way; Fr. Conceicao had an indomitable willpower. So a way was found in the midst of almost unsurmountable difficulties and his dreams of a Technical Education Complex became a reality not only at Bandra but also at Vashi in Navi Mumbai, in Goa and other parts of the country.
➤ Fr. Agnel Ashram at Bandra, Mumbai founded in 1957 was the product of his labour of love for India. The great vision and unflinching determination of Fr. Conceicao led him to dedicate his life for India, for our people and specially for the orphans. Fr. Conceicao Rodrigues, founder of many charitable and educational institutions, was an institution himself.
➤ “My Land and My People! It is all that matters”. This was the motto of his life. It came true when our Polytechnic Machine Shop had fabricated a component needed for the effective launching of Aryabhata, India’s first satellite, on 19th April, 1975.
➤ Today, the Ashram Fathers continue his rich legacy at the Fr. Agnel Ashram in Bandstand, Bandra.
