KATHMANDU (UCAN) -- About 500 people, Christians in the minority, gathered at Jesuit Social Services Center in Kathmandu to mark the death anniversary of its founder, a priest killed three years ago.

"Today we rejoice in our success, but we also remember Father Gafney in hope of continued success," Jesuit Father William Robins told guests including poor boys, people in wheelchairs, social workers, doctors and government officers.

Some of those who had been helped by Jesuit Father Thomas Gafney gave their testimonies at the Dec. 9 event. Many consider the U.S.-born missioner as "the father of social work" in Nepal.

Laxmi Prasad Devkota, a Hindu orphan said, "Father Gafney left his home to walk a path full of thorns -- in such a country like ours where people now love riches and are influenced by Maoists."

He added that although the priest worked for 28 years in Nepal, he was not honored but instead killed and accused of a number of things, including being an evangelist.

"It is enough to say that he was the eyes for the blind, ears for the deaf, legs for the crippled, food for the hungry, water for the thirsty," Devkota concluded.

Jesuit Father Eugene Watrin, main guest of honor at the memorial function, said, "The only human life worth living is a life in service of others."

He explained that Father Gafney dedicated himself wholly to social work, spending many hours with the sick and the poor, and never compromising with what he saw as wrong even though this created a lot of problems for him.

At the event, some half-a-dozen social work club members and junior scouts of a local primary school presented clothes and gifts they had collected.

Tendu Sherpa, a blind man who has lived at the center the longest -- 19 years -- put a woolen scarf knitted by one of the handicapped around Father Watrin.

Father Watrin gave away prizes and certificates to 13 students who got good marks in school exams.

Father Gafney's murder remains unsolved. He was found with his throat slit on Dec. 14, 1997, on a mattress on the floor of the social service center, which was also his residence.

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