Card. Ivan Dias, former Prefect of Propaganda Fide and Archbishop of Mumbai has died. Tribute of Card. Gracias

"A blessing for India". He was the first Indian to cover the office of Prefect in the Vatican. He was the first to reach out to China. A great pastoral and diplomatic experience. Afflicted by various diseases, he was "a martyr of the mission".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Card. Ivan Dias died in Rome last night at 8 pm local time. He was 81 years old. He was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2006-2011) and Archbishop of Mumbai (1996-2006). Thanks to his joviality and his diplomatic art there were the first openings of the Vatican to China and the beginning of relations between members of the Secretariat of State and the Chinese embassy in Rome.

At news of his death, Card. Oswald Gracias, his successor to the leadership of the Church of Mumbai, told AsiaNews: "The Church in India has lost its illustrious son. Card. Dias made India a proud nation because his eminence was the first Indian to be called in the Vatican to the role of Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. He loved India and worked tirelessly for the progress and development of its people. The Church in India and especially the archdiocese of Mumbai now has a powerful intercessor in heaven. The intercession of Card. Ivan Dias will bring many graces for our Church. "

Ivan Dias was born in Bandra (Mumbai) on April 14, 1936 to a family of Catholics originally from Goa which was quite affluent, second of four children. On December 8, 1958, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese and sent to Rome for studies, where he graduated in canon law at the Lateran University.

"Card. Ivan - recalled the Archbishop - has always had courage and conviction and never swerved in his zeal for Jesus and the Church. He was a Marian person and a devout son of Mary, the Mother whom he loved. "

In 1964 Card. Dias joined the Holy See diplomatic service first as secretary in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Indonesia, Madagascar, Reunion, Comoros, Mauritius. For some time he worked in the Secretariat of State on several dossiers: USSR, Belarus, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria, China, Vietnam, Laos, ... until 1982.

On May 8, 1982, Card. Agostino Casaroli ordained him as Archbishop and he began his apostolic nuncio career in Ghana, Togo, Benin, South Korea, where he was much loved, and in Albania where he had to deal with the rebirth of the Church after Communist rule.

On November 8, 1996, he was appointed archbishop of Mumbai, until 2006. In 2001 Pope John Paul II appointed him a cardinal. In this capacity he was president of the Synod of Bishops at the October 2001 Assembly, on the figure and service of the bishop.

As a Propaganda Fide Prefect, he is rememberd for the tenacity and patience with which he sought every possibility of relations with the People's Republic of China, opening a series of visits and meetings with the Chinese ambassador to Italy. During his mandate in 2007, Benedict XVI published his Letter to Chinese Catholics.

Afflicted by several illnesses, in 2011 he retired to Rome, where he died.

In his tribute entrusted to AsiaNews, Card. Gracias adds: "Card. Ivan Dias was a martyr for mission. All his health problems came from his intense and multiple missionary journeys. But he never complained. His eminence has endured his illness and deep suffering with Christian fortitude and heroism.

I will miss a loving friend, support and guide. Just two days ago I visited his eminence at the clinic and his eyes smiled at me. He was happy, glad I went to visit him to be with him at his beside. This warm welcome fills my heart with gratitude."

"Card. Dias - he concluded - had a special love for the priests and took care of their formation at the seminaries. Retired priests also had a special place in his heart. He has always taken care of their needs."

(Nirmala Carvalho collaborated)