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Alan de Lastic, Archbishop of Delhi, dies in accident

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

The Most Revered Alan de Lastic, the fourth archbishop of Delhi, died in a car accident in Poland on June 20 (June 21, 0230 hours IST).

De Lastic had gone to Rome on June 14 and then flown to Poland to visit the Black Madonna in Krakow, a shrine of the Virgin Mary. While returning from Krakow, his car met with an accident, as his driver tried to avoid a cyclist (whom the police suspect to have been drunk).

Alan de Lastic died on the spot.

His body is still in Poland and details are being worked out bring it back to India. Church officials said the burial will take place in Delhi.

De Lastic was the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, the apex body of Roman Catholics in India.

The news of his death was received with disbelief and shock in India. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee asked four senior bishops to visit his office so that he could pay his condolences to them. He also assured them all help from the government to bring the body back.

Other leaders and top personalities, including leader of the opposition Sonia Gandhi, have also sent in their condolences.

Till she took the plunge into politics, the archbishop used to visit Sonia, since security considerations prevented her from visiting the Sacred Cathedral where the archbishop led the prayers.

In the last few years the archbishop was extremely concerned about the attacks on Christian missionaries and tribal people. He, along with the CBCI, was in the forefront in getting the government to respond to these attacks.

Yet, the archbishop was also very keen to avoid a conflagration between the Hindu and Christian communities. "If we chose to respond to the attacks upon the Christians in like fashion, it will serve no purpose and only strengthen our enemies," he had told rediff.com some time ago.

One of Alan de Lastic's strengths, perhaps derived from the fact that he was based in Delhi, was his contacts with the top people. He was known to be on cordial terms with some of the top politicians, cutting across party lines and faith. He was known to enjoy a good relation with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, despite the fact that the Church often held affiliates of the Bharatiya Janata Party responsible for the attacks on Christians.

Alan de Lastic was born on September 24, 1929, in Maymyo, Mandalay, Myanmar (then Burma). His mother was born to an English and Burmese couple, while his father was of Irish-French descent.

De Lastic had his early schooling in Burma. It was the Japanese attack on Burma that forced the de Lastic family to flee to India, and young Alan completed his schooling in Patna. He later studied to be a marine engineer, but chose to join the clergy.

Alan de Lastic was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Calcutta on December 21,1958, and then began his rise in the Church. In pursuit of his theological studies, he went to Rome, Dublin, and later to the United States as a Fulbright Scholar.

In between, he was in charge of the St Xavier's Junior Technical Schools and later head master of the St Anthony's High School and rector, St Joseph's Chapel, Calcutta. From1969 to 1974, he was rector of the Morning Star College, Calcutta.

In 1974, he was appointed the Vicar General of the Calcutta Archdiocese and then made Titular Bishop of Cissensi and Auxillary to Lawrence Cardinal Picachy, Archbishop of Calcutta.

On May 27, 1979, Pope John Paul II consecrated de Lastic as bishop. The ceremony, carried out in Rome, was witnessed by none other than Mother Teresa.

On September 18, 1984, de Lastic took charge of the diocese of Lucknow and on December 10, 1990, he was transferred as archbishop of Delhi. He also took over the See of Delhi in January 1991.

Alan de Lastic had served as secretary general of the CBCI in 1986.

The archbishop was also a member of the National Integration Council, appointed by the prime minister.

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