Bangladesh Church mourns Filipino missionary priest

Stephan Uttom, Dhaka

The body of Father Alex Rabanal on display at St. Mary's Cathedral in Dhaka on April 3. (Photo: Stephan Uttom/UCA News)

Bangladeshi Catholics are mourning the death of Father Alejandro R Rabanal, a Filipino missionary priest known for his outstanding contributions to local catechism and agriculture during nearly three decades in the Muslim-majority country.

Father Rabanal, popularly known as Father Alex was a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. He passed away at church-run St. John Vianney Hospital in capital Dhaka on April 3. He was 88.

He was old so he was suffering from various physical ailments, then finally he left us. Father Alex was a very humble man. His vitality was incomparable, Father George Kamal Rozario, provincial of the Holy Cross of Bangladesh, told UCA News.

Born in Alaminos in Pangasinan province in the Philippines in 1934, Alex Rabanal studied agriculture and obtained a master's degree in agricultural science from the Agricultural Research Center in the Netherlands.

He first came to Bangladesh (then part of Pakistan) following World War II to work as an agriculturist and researcher. He then returned to the Philippines, married and had two children.

He raised his two children after his wife died. As his children grew up, he joined the Holy Cross community in 1984. He was ordained a priest in 1988 and came to Bangladesh that same year.

He got married, became a father and responded to God's call to expand His kingdom and finally became a Holy Cross priest

For a brief period, Father Rabanal worked in parishes of Dhaka and Chattogram dioceses. Following an invitation from late American Holy Cross missionary Father Eugene Homrich, he moved to the Modhupur area of Tangail district, which is now part of predominantly indigenous Mymensingh Diocese.

Cardinal Patrick D. Rozario, also a Holy Cross member, was a student of Father Rabanal when he came to Bangladesh after the war.

How diverse the call of God. He came to Bangladesh in search of a livelihood and work. He taught us that it is possible to achieve an agricultural revolution in a war-torn world. He got married, became a father and responded to God's call to expand His kingdom and finally became a Holy Cross priest, Cardinal D'Rozario said during a funeral Mass in Dhaka.

Holy Cross Bishop Ponen Paul Kubi of Mymensingh, the first Garo Catholic bishop of Bangladesh, mourned Father Rabanal's death and hailed him for his selfless services to ethnic minorities for decades

Before Father Alex came, the Garo people of Modhupur used the jhum [slash and burn] method for agriculture. He introduced them to modern methods such as planting paddy in low land and brought seeds of various vegetables, crops and fruits. His efforts revolutionized agriculture in the area, Bishop Kubi told Garo community news site Thokbirim News.

Father Alex's death is an irreparable loss for us and for the Church. We need more professional priests who can work with people in the field besides spiritual work

He also encouraged the Garo and other ethnic groups to preserve their traditions and culture such as their clothes and musical instruments, inspiring them to use their cultural elements in Catholic liturgy.

Thanks to his great love for people, the Garo community called him Achchu (grandfather) in the Garo language.

Subash Haccha, a Garo Catholic from Mymensingh Diocese, recalled the great contributions of Father Rabanal.

If we took our problems to Father Alex, he would find a solution. We used to call him Achchu, not Father. He would solve any problems concerning crops. He would tell us which method to use, and the method suggested by him would also reduce costs, Haccha told UCA News

Father Alex's death is an irreparable loss for us and for the Church. We need more professional priests who can work with people in the field besides spiritual work.  

Following a second funeral Mass on April 4, Father Rabanal was buried at the Holy Cross congregation's cemetery in Gazipur district near Dhaka.