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Fr. Charles Lobo, S.D.B a Profile
Charles was born on
4th November, 1943
at Barkur in the South Kanara district of Karnataka State, to Late
Mr. Thomas Lobo and Late Mrs. Margaret (Nee Pereira) of Barkur.
Mr Thomas Lobo was a copper smith by profession, always hard
working, as I remember him and as I picture him now. This devout,
hard working and especially God fearing family had six children,
three boys and three girls. Charles, popularly known as Charlie
was the fourth in the family. All the children were brought up in
a very strict religious Catholic atmosphere, attending daily Mass
as much as possible, never missing Sunday Masses, morning and
evening Angelus, Rosary in the evening, reciting a decade while
kneeling and hands raised above the shoulders, a practice very
faithfully observed in those childhood days, and perhaps even
today in Barkur! It was in this religious atmosphere that he was
brought up, not knowing he would become the Provincial of the
Salesians of New Delhi Province, some day!
His parents would never tolerate any sort of insincerity in the
children. Straight forwardness and simplicity were the hallmarks
of the family. Call spade a spade! Life of prayer in the family
had a very important place. Though the father was a very strict
disciplined person, mother was very affectionate and loving to
help balance the family life.
Mr. Thomas Lobo passed away when Fr. Charles was still a young
priest, after making sure that all his children are well settled
in life. Charlie's mother passed away just a year ago after a good
old ripe life. Whenever anyone mentioned the name of Fr. Charles,
her face would light up as though the all the heavenly light of
the Holy Ghost focussed one her! Needless to say, they lived a
contended life with necessary needs and without any wants.
Charles was just 14 years old, when he left home. No one knew the
word 'depression', then, but, what made young Charlie leave his
native place at the age of 14 and go to a far off land to be a
missionary is a matter of profound reflection! He always says that
it was the strictness of his dad and hard work such as carrying
drinking water from a distance of a kilometer; doing all sorts of
jobs in his dad’s shop (copper smith), especially pumping air to
keep the coal fire going for hours, which made young Charlie
literally to run away from home! But God as you know, works in
ways mysterious. He knows what is best!
Fr. Monteiro, the then Parish Priest of Barkur, a kind hearted
humanitarian, arranged to send Charlie to complete his high school
studies to
West Bengal,
almost 1700 miles away.
It was a super challenge to Charlie to adjust to new places, new
languages, new customs, food habits, but Charlie bore all these
silently, knowing God was there to guide him along. (I still
don't understand why God makes us to suffer, and then smiles and
tells, "I was only testing you, like a cat
playing/hurting/torturing a mouse!) Oh, well, who am I to
question God.
Folks, out of a total of 45 - 50 young Seminarians in Charlie's
batch, only three became Salesian Priests. All the other
companions of his, left some time during their formation period.
Of the three, one died as a Priest. Of the other two surviving,
one became a Bishop Joseph Gomes of Krishnanagar Diocese, in
West Bengal and you know who the third one is, the one, and one
only, our Barkurian Fr. Charles Lobo!
Once again, Christ's words come true, "Many are called, few are
chosen."
There are 145 Salesians - Priests and Brothers in the
Province of New Delhi. Fr. Charles is the only Mangalorean! Again,
this year Salesian India is celebrating the centenary year of the
Salesian Presence.Interestingly, in the year 1877 Don Bosco, the
founder of Salesian Congregation was invited by the Vicar
Apostolic of Mangalore to send Salesians to Mangalore Vicariate.
But circumstances did not some how favour this invitation, rather
on the other hand the Salesians were the last to enter Mangalore
Diocese. It’s only some five or six years ago Salesaians from
Mumbai Province have come to Mangalore Diocese at Trasi, near
Kundapur.
Inspite of this, Fr. Charles has been a Salesian well over 40
years! All the wonderful happenings, he attributes to God’s
marvelous intervention in his life! He is also a great devotee of
Our Blessed Virgin Mary.
His eldest sister Rosy is married to late Victor D'Silva, of
Udyavar and has three children , Gracy, Louis and Prakash. All the
three are married and well settled.
Felicity, the second in the family is married to Mr. Roque Lewis
of Kallianpur. They have five children Joel, Solomon, Shiela,
Neena and Allen. Of the five, three are working in the Gulf
countries, one has settled down in Mumbai and the youngest is at
Kallianpur. All are married and well settled.
His elder brother John Urban is retired and settled in Barkur/Bangalore,
with his family. They have three children Sunil Steven, Sunny
and Stanley. Of the three, one is working in
New Jersey with his family, the second is in
Bahrain
with the family and the third is working in
Bangalore,
but not married.
His younger sister Rosaria, in the similar footsteps of Charlie,
became a nun belonging to the Congregation of the Daughters of
St.Paul. At the moment she is the superior of the Provincial
House at Bandra, Mumbai.
His younger brother Richard is retired and settled in Barkur with
his family. He had three children, Jennifer, Jessica a nd
Denver. Jessica, the second in the family, met with a tragic road
accident and died.She was just five years old!
A miniaturized resume (or I must say: Charlie's Road Map to
Glory!) is as follows:
Schooling: Primary at
Maryknoll School, Barkur
Middle & High School at
National High School, Barkur (It became a College much later)
Higher Secondary School at Our Lady’s
Higher Secondary School, Bandel, West Bengal.
April 1964 to April 1965 Novitiate at Sunnyside, Shillong,
Meghalaya.
1965 to 1968 : Philosophy and graduation Salesian College Sonada,
Darjeeling.
1968 to 1970 : Regency at the Minor Seminary, Bandel
1970 to 1971 : B.Ed St. Xavier’s College,
Calcutta.
1971 to 1974 : Theology at
Kristu Jyoti College, Bangalore.
1975 to 1985 : Principal,
Don Bosco High School, Hatia Ranchi.
1985 to 1986 : Diploma in Catechetics from K.J.C. Bangalore.
1986 to 1987 : Dean of studies at the Minor Seminary, Bandel.
1987 to 1988 : In-charge of the Salesian Brother aspirants at Don
Bosco Park Circus,
Calcutta.
1988 to 1992 : Rector Don Bosco Youth Centre, Hatia ,
Ranchi.
1992 to 2000 : In-Charge & Rector, Don Bosco Yuva Sadan,
Jabalpur.
2000 to 2002 : Rector, Principal & Parish Priest, Don Bosco, Kokar,
Ranchi.
From 2003 to till date : Provincial, Salesian Province of New
Delhi.
Incidents in the life of Fr. Charles
Charlie narrates one or two incidents in his life which might help
inspire our readers.
It was on a Holy Saturday, probably in the year 1950 or 51, he
doesn’t quite recollect. He went to church with his close friend
Charles Futardo s/o Joseph Futardo of Barkur to get holy water. On
their way to church and back they shared pleasantries, for little
did they know that it would be their last meeting together. In the
evening on the same day Charlie Lobo receives the shocking news
that his close friend Charles is no more that he got drowned in a
pond while taking bath. This tragic incident left a deep void in
his life as he was very close to him. ( Charles Futardo) It took
several months to recover from this shock!
Consequent to this incident in his life, Charlie had to find
another friend equally close to him. This time it was Clifford
Lobo, a class mate of his. One evening after class, both of them
had gone to pluck some cashew fruits from a compound near their
school. His friend Clifford climbed a tree while he remained
below. While his friend was plucking the fruits, all of a sudden
the branch on which he was standing gave way and Clifford fell to
the ground unconscious. Charlie out of fright felt like running
away, but good sense prevailed on him and he tried to revive his
companion, who came to consciousness after a while. But the
shocking experience he had then was not forgotten easily. It was
so frightening that none of them shared this incident with anybody
until many years.
There is yet another interesting episode from Charlie’s life. You
might think that Charlie was a Altar boy and went regularly to
serve Mass before he joined the Seminary; just the contrary. Even
though he attempted to learn the Mass prayers in Latin for serving
Mass, he never even once was he at the Altar to serve at Mass
while he was at home. On reading this account some might raise
their eyebrows, saying, how come? The fact is, which he shared
with others later on, that he did not like the company of those
who went to serve Mass. They were a group whose behavior was not
exemplary. That’s why Charlie preferred to avoid their company,
even though he went to church regularly. You don't have to be
glorified Altar boy to become a priest. God's calling are
mysterious|!
Fr. Charles has been helping youngsters to discern their vocation
through counseling and carrier guidance skills right from my early
days as a young Priest, As love does not keep track of
pleasantries or insults, he does does not remember how many
thousands he has helped.
Barkuronline.com wishes even brighter future to Fr. Charles Lobo.
The Salesians have two Provinces in |India, and he heads the
northern province as the Provincial. And yet, he is humble,
simple, pious, characteristic to some of the Barkurians!
-James Fernandes,
USA |
