INDIAN CHURCH LEADER KILLED IN CAR CRASH

Archbishop Alan Basil de Lastic of Delhi, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), died in a car accident in Poland on Tuesday night, June 20.

The tragedy occurred while the 70 year-old archbishop was returning to Warsaw after visiting the shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary, popularly known as the Black Madonna, in Czestochowa. He was riding in a car driven by a Polish priest.

According to reports available through the CBCI offices in New Delhi, Archbishop de Lastic died after the car in which he was riding collided with a motorcycle. The motorcyclist, who was apparently under the influence of alcohol, was killed upon impact.

When the priest driving the car came back to the car after checking in on the condition of the motorcyclist, he found Archbishop de Lastic dead in his seat "with blood in his mouth." The first reports from the scene-- conveyed to Catholics in India by the Warsaw archdiocese-- suggested that the archbishop had suffered a fatal heart attack, apparently triggered by the crash.

In announcing the death of the leader of the 16 million Catholics in India, Father Donald de Souza, the deputy general secretary of the CBCI, said that Archbishop de Lastic's body would be brought back to New Delhi, accompanied by two bishops from Poland. The date and the time of the funeral have not yet been announced.

"We have lost an extraordinary and charismatic leader, who gave leadership not only to the Catholic community in India but to all the Christians in the country,", said Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios, senior CBCI vice President, who now replaces Archbishop de Lastic as the head of the Indian episcopal conference.

"The archbishop was in dialogue with the government on various issues concerning the Christian community in India, and the void in leadership created by his death will be difficult to fill. But we hope and pray that the mark of leadership left by him will continue in this our beloved country. He has left a void in the hearts of all," said Archbishop Mar Baselios.

Archbishop de Lastic was born in September 1929 in what is now Myanmar, of parents of French and British origin. His family migrated to India in 1942. After completing degree in marine engineering, he chose not to pursue that career path and instead entered the seminary in 1951. Ordained a priest in 1958 for the Calcutta archdiocese, Father de Lastic spent several years in studies abroad including Rome before he returned to India to teach in seminaries.

In 1979, he was made auxiliary bishop of Calcutta. In 1984, Bishop de Lastic took charge of the eastern Lucknow diocese, from which he was elevated to become the archbishop of India's capital city in 1990. After serving as secretary general of the Indian bishops' conference from 1986 to 1090, he was elected president of the 170-member conference in 1998. Archbishop de Lastic was re-elected to the post in January of this year during the biennial CBCI general assembly.

As chairman of the ecumenical United Christian Forum for Human Rights, Archbishop de Lastic became a familiar voice and face to the Indian media following the sudden spurt in anti-Christian violence in the last few years. He left for his most recent visit to Rome, which included a pilgrimage to Poland, on June 12-- only hours after he called on the Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to remind him of the concerned of the Christian community about the unabated violence against Christians.

"The country will miss him for the leadership he provided to the movement for strengthening the secular fabric of India," said the All India Catholic Union (AICU). "He was a bulwark against all forms of extremism and a crusader for reconciliation and peace. Fiercely proud of India's plural cultural heritage and its ancient wisdom, Archbishop Alan stood for an end to inequality" said the AICU statement referring to the archbishop's relentless campaign for and end to discrimination by the government against Christians of lower-caste origin.

The crowning event in the life of Archbishop de Lastic came when he played host to Pope John Paul II last November, the Holy Father visited New Delhi to conclude the Synod for Asia by releasing the apostolic exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia". Archbishop de Lastic was also known for his close association with Mother Teresa, with whom he had worked closely in Calcutta.

Prime Minister Vajpayee called Church leaders to his office upon hearing the news of the archbishop's death, to express his condolences. The prime minister assured the bishops that he would take steps to ensure that the body of the archbishop is brought to India at the earliest opportunity for a solemn funeral.

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