Deacon Roy Mathews

Dn. Roy Mathews, who belongs to the diocese of Jammu-Srinagar inJammu and Kashmir State, is a student of Papal Seminary. At present, he is doing his bachelor degree in Theology in Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth. A person who has a concern for the poor and the needy, Roy Mathews believes that an ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. No wonder, he likes to be engaged in some social ministry all the time. Most of the poor people in Ramwadi – Papal Seminary is situated here – know Dn. Roy Mathews as a person who has a heart for them. Dn. Roy would like to do all the service in secret (“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” – Mt. 6:3) but one day he should be “caught”! That is what exactly happened on 13^thFebruary, 2010.

Dn. Roy Mathews was ordained a deacon together with other 19 brothers on 13^th February, 2010. The theme of the Holy Eucharist that day was “Called to Serve in Love”. Soon after his diaconate, he did just that – served people in love – in spite of the shock of having had a narrow escape from the bomb explosion in Pune. He together with Bro. Joemon Kurishingal of Kalyan diocese rescued many victims of the bomb blast.

Bro. Joemon Kurusingal and Dn. Roy Mathews were going to visit patients in Sassoon hospital in the city in the evening when the bomb exploded near German Bakery they had just passed. The blast killed nine people, and wounded around fifty people. “I saw the place strewn with flesh and blood. There was a chaotic scene, with people weeping loudly and thousands of people crowding the area,” said Deacon Roy Mathews.

The shaken seminarians then helped carry dead bodies and the injured before the police roped off the area. Seminary rector Rev. Fr. Pradeep Sequeira s.j. said his students’ involvement “was a real witness to Christ and sharing the grief of the victims and the city.” Capuchin Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery of Jammu-Srinagar also lauded his deacon’s “prompt response.” and said that Dn. Roy Mathews is a "talented man with a good heart.”

-Doniv Nitsales-