Get well soon, Fr Ceyrac...

Father Pierre Ceyrac, S.J (born 1914) left France in 1936 and for over 60 years has worked for the poor and the needy. He has also served refugees in strife-torn Rwanda and in Cambodia. He takes care of the basic needs of some 18,000 poor and abandoned children in Tamil Nadu. He works for the cause of women, peasants and Dalits and all this, so quietly. In Nov 2003, Fr Ceyrac was honoured with "le grand prix de l'Académie universelle des cultures", a high award from President Jacques Chirac of France.

When I was in Loyola hostel, I use to wonder why the poorest of the poor, the sick and the neglected line up the Jesuit Residence, sometimes extending up to Choolaimedu subway. Asha Krishnakumar, who interviewed Fr Ceyrac for Frontline writes:

“In the middle of the conversation he took a little time off to talk with one of his six lieutenants about the progress of some work in Sivaganga district. And then, with the same enthusiasm he met a couple of leprosy patients who had come seeking medical help. Putting his arms around their shoulders, he listened to their problems patiently and promised help. And, then, as he saw them off, he shook their hands. "More than giving them money it is the hand-shake and respect that matters most to them," Fr. Ceyrac then remarked.”

No wonder people flocked to see their good shepherd. Unfortunately, Fr Ceyrac had a fall while at Loyola and since then been transfered and treated at the military hospital of Paris. He had a second fall in France and is recovering. Get well soon and God bless Fr Ceyrac...

Read more about Fr Ceyrac here.